[ale] linuxgruven.com

[Frank Zamenski]

And I was in my early 40's when I 're-tooled', because an entire industry
under me went 'bust'. I went back to college in west Texas, and picked up
another degree, this time in CIS. (I was formerly a US domestic petroleum
exploration geologist). I worked at the college in the interim at meager
part-time hourly, they were putting in a new LAN, thus I was able to pick up
all the networking and desktop support I could, including some AIX, Slack
Linux, Novell, NT (3.51) the whole bit. And I got a lot, colleges are great
for that kind of thing. Two years later with 2nd degree in hand, I packed up
the family and moved back up north, and took a job at a contract house in
S.E. Michigan, and was assigned to an HMO to assist in a four month term
Win95 corporate rollout. I was asked to stay on after to do desktop and
other misc support because of my broad background. Two years later, I
applied for an opening in the Unix shop at the same HMO, and got it, in part
because I knew some Linux and AIX and even NT (and, yes, lots of corporate
people by then, too), and have been doing Solaris admin for over a year
there now. My *nix knowledge has of course increased because of it.

The point to the longwinded stuff above: Don't sweat your age, you're not
that old. A bit of sacrafice, a lot of drive, and a willingness to learn
anything and everything, still go a long way.

And DO run like like hell screaming from that other 'position'. Things are
just too good in IS/IT right now, there is still a shortage of trained and
even green personnal, and I'm sure you 'have what it takes' to do just fine.

Good luck!
Frank Z.

BTW, I saw the site. Seems legit on the surface, but after your story and
the words of others, it does ring hollow, like they are indeed just 'cashing
in'. If they fail to deliver to a client, and you are part of that deal, it
not only could put a real bad taste for Linux into their mouth (hurting us
all), it might hurt your own rep too. Some pissed off clients whom have been
bilked have very long memories, and it's a very small world.


> From: "Stephen F Nicholas" <syssfn at panther.Gsu.EDU>
> To: "James Kinney" <jkinney at localnetsolutions.com>
> Cc: "jiin" <jiin at jiin.org>; <ale at ale.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2000 12:28 AM
> Subject: Re: [ale] linuxgruven.com
>

> You're being 38 doesn't have anything to do with it.  I'm 42, went baack
> to college at 34, and taught myself 'some' Unux / Linux.  I've worked in
> mgmt and retail.  The 'sleeziest' companies I either have worked for or
> heard of from associates, at worst, pay for the training up front and
> require you to work for them a specific amount of time (2 years
> normally.)  And the companies weren't really sleezy (at least in this
> respect), they were protecting themselves.  If you left before the agreed
> upon time, the cost was prorated.  You don't get a free education and they
> don't get screwed.
>
> I agree with James,  if you're required to pay $2500 up front, this
> doesn't smell good.  And you'll 'probably' get a call tomorrow that you've
> been accepted.  Nothing is done overnight.  You can teach yourself, or at
> 'least' choose your teacher.  There are plenty of good books out
> there.  One thing I've always told myself, I've met some 'EXTREMELY' smart
> people in my time, but the ones that call themselves experts, run like
> hell.
>
> Run away, run very far away.  The BBB or Channel 2 would probably be
> interested in this.  I wish you good luck in your endeavors.
>
> Steve
>
> =======================================================
> | Steve Nicholas             |                        |
> | Unix System Programmer     |  A risk is not a risk  |
> | Georgia State University   |  until it is taken.    |
> | snicholas at gsu.edu          |                        |
> | 404-651-1062               |  BBROYGBVGW            |
> =======================================================
>
> On Mon, 23 Oct 2000, James Kinney wrote:
>
> > Run away screaming and call the BBB.
> >
> > No legit company is going to charge en employee an "upfront fee" for
their
> > own training.
> >
> > It stinks of scam. They sell "training" with the potential that you can
> > land a $45K job afterwards.
> >
> > JimK
> > Local Net Solutions
> >
> > On Mon, 23 Oct 2000, jiin wrote:
> >
> > > I apologize for the off topic post. however I need some information
about
> > > this company.
> > >
> > > I answered an ad in the AJC and had an interview with a company called
> > > linuxgruven.com today. Offices in Lennox Towers across from Lennox
Mall. I
> > > spent two hours in the interview including a short written test. ( why
> > > weren't they at the ALS? )
> > >
> > > Their offer was very nice and I have no idea if I will be accepted or
not
> > > until tommorow (tues.). The jist of the offer was this: 45k per year
<entry
> > > level>, paid health insurance for the family including vision and
dental,
> > > 401k and stock options before the IPO is released. The part that
smells
> > > like it could be a scam is that they want me to pay $2500 dollars up
front
> > > for a 4 week training course to get certified in linux. Not any one
> > > particular distro but "all major" distros. < the $2500 comes back
after one
> > > year>. My thought is to sign a contract with them for a year and they
pay
> > > the educational fees.
> > >
> > > On one hand, if it is legit it is pretty good for a 38 year old trying
to
> > > change vocations into something he loves doing. Ironically I just
spent
> > > $5000 to get MCSE certified because I became convinced that it was one
of
> > > the few ways I could get my foot into the IT door. On the other hand
it
> > > just smells a little fishy after thinking about it for a few hours.
> > >
> > > My OS of choice is linux without a doubt. However I can not afford to
chase
> > > a pipe dream at this point in my life. Their web site is
> > > www.linuxgruven.com. If anyone has any info on the subject please let
me know.
> > >
> > > thanks,
> > >
> > > jiin
> > >
> > > --
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message body.
> > >
> >
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