5/18    My sister is majoring in Information Systems Management at UC Santa
        Cruz (She flunked the math for CS), and is thinking about becoming a
        sys or network admin.  How does one learn that stuff?  Are there any
        good books?  Speaking of which, does anyone need a summer intern
        for such a position? -jrleek
        \_ E-mail me her resume. I was told it's too late now, but if we like
           her we can use her next summer. The next cycle starts in (I
           believe) January. --dim
           \_ jrleek, is she hot? If so, it's best you don't send her
              to dimitrious.
        \_ If she's a flake she's better off trying to find a low end
           coding job.  *In general* programmers go home at the end of the
           day.  Sysadmins *tend* to carry pagers, work 24/7 rotation on-call,
           etc.  And finally, there are different kinds of admins.  Windows?
           Unix?  Networking?  Office support?  Engineering?  Production?
           Does she even have an interest in technology?  If not, she'll be
           happier in the short, mid and long run doing something else even
           if it pays less at first.  She won't advance in a tech field if she
           has no interest in technology.
           \_ I didn't mean to give the impression that she has no interest
              in technology.  And wacky sys admin hours and overwork would
              probably suit her fine.  She's not THAT kind of flake. -op
        \_ System administration is a craft; it's learned by doing.  Her best
           bet would be to find a way to practice sysadmin skills.  At Cal,
           the OCF and CSUA provide such opportunities.  Something similar
           might exist at UCSC, or look for a community or non-profit that
           needs someone to set up machines for them.  -tom
           \_ This is very good advice. She may need to volunteer for a while
              to get the skills down, but she should dive in hands first and
              hit up her big brother for more tips and hints when she hits the
              inevitable wall. Believe it or not, there are entry-level
              SysAdmin jobs, if you're willing to work for experience. --e-red
        \_ Yes, but it's a little late to ask now. Next year? What year
           is she?
           \_ Yeah, I know it's late, but hope springs eternal. She was
              expecting a programming internship, but didn't keep on it and
              they found someone better.  Which is not unusual for her.
              She's a junior, she has a summer next year before she
              graduates though. -jrleek
              \_ We probably could have used her, but I cannot make a
                 budget request now. That had to be done a month ago or
                 more. It's hard to find good students, but I have some
                 concerns:
                 1) Why did she want a programming internship if she's
                    not intending to be a s/w engineer? That's a big red
                    flag for anyone hiring for IT positions that are not
                    developer positions.
                 2) Is she really as flaky as you are making her out to be?
                    Your description of her situation and how it came to
                    be does her no favors. Yes, she's young yadda yadda yadda.
                 \_ 1) The programming internship was offered by a relative.
                       And heck, right now she know more about programming
                       And heck, right now she knows more about programming
                       than administration.  It's not like she knows what
                       it's really like to do either as a full time job.
                    2) Eh, as her older brother, I'm probably a little harsh,
                       but yeah, she can be kinda flaky.  It think she'd
                       be fine at a job though.  She has done TAing a such
                       things, that seems to have gone well.
                       but she tends not to follow up on things that she
                       isn't concentrating on right now.  I think she'd
                       probably do ok at a real job, but isn't A-list
                       material.
                       but yeah, she can be kinda flaky.  I think she'd
                       be fine at a job though.  She has done TAing and such
                       things, and those seem to have gone well.