"Standard Deviations" of the Average System Administrator

[Ehtyar]

Richard Bejtlich highlights many interesting points from the recent ;login: article "Standard Deviations of the Average System Administrator".

System administrators have a surprising amount in common with electricians. Both professions require intensive training. Both professions are plagued by amateurs who believe (erroneously) that they can do a good job as a professional. Both professions are based upon a shared body of knowledge.

But electricians can call upon several resources that system administrators lack. Electricians have a legally mandated mentorship/apprenticeship program for training novices. They have a well-defined and generally-accepted profession of job grades, from apprentice to journeyman to master. They advance in grade partly through legally mandated apprenticeship and partly through legally mandated certifications. These certifications test for knowledge of a set of standards for practice—again, mandated by law. The regulations are almost universally accepted as essential to assuring quality workmanship, function, and safety.

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Ehtyar.

[housetier]

and partly through legally mandated certifications

this reminds me to get the certificates from the LPI. They are accepted worldwide, and cost less than a MSCE certificate. Although the LPI certificates are not mandated legally, they help in reality.

[mitzevo]

Quite a boring read if you ask me.