Jr UNIX Admin Position

What is on Your Mind?
1

Hello. I have worked in a desktop support role for the past 2 years. I was approached at my place of work and offered a job as a junior Unix administrator. All training would be provided. The only experience I have is what I have read about Unix in my free time. Nothing more.

I had a couple of questions regarding the position.

  1. What is the typical (ballpark figure) salary of a junior Unix administrator? I have seen that most Unix admin's make 75k +. I am in the southern US and would just like to know round about what a 'jr admin' would expect.
  2. I have seen some of the book recommendations on these forums for beginners, but does anyone know of any online tutorials, videos, etc?
  3. For anyone who has held a Unix position, how are the stress levels associated with the job? Obviously, this is different in every case, but did you enjoy what you did/do?

Thank you for any help.

2

Well:-

  1. Salary depends on where you are in the world and how much the employer thinks you are worth.
    .
  2. If you are starting from scratch, each major vendor will have training courses where you will learn better than from books because you can discuss things with the tutor. That said, O'Reilly and the Dummies books are good.
    .
  3. It's a great job, it's a terrible job, it's a great job, it's a terrible job. It depends on the job and how far your responsibilities reach. It also depends how critical the system is to your business. You could be 24-hour callout for a bank or next-working-day fix for managing informational web-site. My guess is somewhere in between, but generally it's great.

Robin
Liverpool/Blackburn
UK