
Ask HN: Tips for applying as a system administrator? - labrador3
Moin,<p>I am a student of computer science in my 4th semester and apply for jobs as a working student as a system administrator.<p>Can you give me some tips?<p>1. what should not be missing in my application?<p>2. where can I get good latex templates for applications?<p>3. which topics should I look at again before a trial working day?
======
satyenr
> what should not be missing in my application?

Details of relevant skills and experience. But do not go too detailed. There
should be enough information to convey your competence without being
overwhelming. The person reviewing your resume doesn’t have time to read a
novel — make sure it is succinct. Put the most relevant skills/experience
front and centre and be ready to back them up. Nothing hurts your chances more
than failing at something you’ve listed in your resume.

> where can I get good latex templates for applications?

Don’t bother — just use MS Word/Google Docs/Apple Pages/LibreOffice Writer.
They all have templates for writing resume. Just be sure to convert the end
result into a PDF.

> which topics should I look at again before a trial working day?

The basics of whatever you are supposed to be working on, I suppose. You can
always Google if you don’t know something — so don’t bother rote learning
command line opts. Make sure that you are familiar with the environment you
are going to work on — things like basic commands, scripting, automation, and
other tools. For example, if you are going to be working on remote Linux
servers, you need to be familiar with vi/vim. Similarly a Windows admin needs
to be competent enough with PowerShell.

------
znpy
Don’t bother with latex for your cv. That’s literally the dumbest thing you
can do.

You might want to customise your cv for the company you’re applying for and in
that case having a plain and simple word/writer document is unbeatable.

Things that should not be missing:

\- a skill matrix with your own self evaluation of competencies. Basically a
table with one row and three columns for basic, intermediate and expert. This
is where you would put your skills and try and communicate what you feel
strong on and what you have just played with.

\- past experiences —— if none, a list of personal projects and/or things
relevant to the job.

