As I get set to embark on a new journey, I thought it would be good to look back at the job description that attracted me to my last job and compare it to the one advertised for my replacement. Here’s the first one:
Senior Support Engineer — Open Position Description
$COMPANY, a startup software company in Research Triangle Park recognized as a “Cool Vendor” by Gartner, is seeking talented individuals to help grow its expanding Engineering team.
$COMPANY‘s award-winning application management product — $PRODUCT — delivers transaction—based application discovery,
dependency mapping, and performance monitoring & analysis for complex, distributed applications in some of the world‘s largest data centers.As a growing software business, $COMPANY is expanding our enterprise support team.
Responsibilities
– Quickly understand the dynamics of the $PRODUCT and maintain an extensive knowledge of any revisions and updates to the software
– Coordinate new customer implementations and provide effective and timely training to maximize use of the software by the customer
– Provide end-user application support via phone and email during support hours and on occasion during off hours when warranted
– Troubleshoot issues reported by customers and provide solutions in a timely, accurate, and professional manner
– Facilitate problem-solving between end user and $COMPANY development staff and make verbal and/or written recommendations for change and improvement
– Develop working relationship with $COMPANY sales team members and provide insight to sales reps regarding any current or future product needs as indicated by the customer
– Provide administrative support for the support portal and work flows associated with support tickets
Requirements – Experience – Skills– A degree in Computer Science or related field and/or significant work experience in the computer industry
– Hands on administrative experience with multiple operating systems (Linux, AIX, Solaris or Windows)
– Experience with web and application servers, back end database servers andior strong networking skills
– Experience with virtuallzation: VMware, Xen, KVM, LDOM, Hyper-V, LPAR
– Experience installing, configuring, or testing complicated enterprise systems or systems management products
– Hands—on experience in systems administration in the following Operating Systems: Linux, Solaris. AIX, Windows
– Experience with VMware, Xen, KVM, and Hyper-V preferred
– Proven and demonstrable abilities in multiple scripting languages (e.g. shell, Perl, Python, VBS, etc.)
– Working knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite required
– Knowledge of Salesforce.com or Jaspersoft preferred but not required
– Ability to achieve multiple objectives within a critical time-frame
– Ability to communicate effectively and demonstrate professionalism with co-workers. customers and vendors
– Ability to cultivate positive working relationships with customers and coworkers
– Ability to effectively communicate technical information in non—technical terms
– Ability to effectively organize and maintain customer data
– Analytical and troubleshooting skills
– Experience diagnosing problems with software products
– Successful start-up company or similar fast-paced environment experience preferred
– A self-starter mentality and the ability to work unsupervised
– Travel may be required to customer locations (5%)
This was a job description practically custom-written for me. See all the soft skills? There’s “communicate effectively and demonstrate professionalism,” “cultivate positive working relationships,” and “effectively communicate technical information in non-technical terms.”
Now look at the job description for my replacement:
Systems Support Engineer
– A degree in Computer Science and/or significant applicable work experience preferred
– Level 2 or 3 experience diagnosing and solving problems with software products
– Hands on experience in system administration of Unix Operating Systems, and knowledge of Windows
– A solid understanding of networking and networking technologies
– Strong troubleshooting skills, and the ability to resolve technical problems on your own
– Demonstrable abilities in a scripting language such as shell, Perl, Python, etc.Bonus Experience
– Hands-on experience installing, configuring or maintaining complex, multi-tier web applications and databases and troubleshooting in those environments
– Experience with virtualization – VMware, Xen, Hyper-V, Solaris LDOMs/zones, AIX LPARs/WPARs
Bare bones, isn’t it? No customer skills necessary and experience with complex environments is simply a bonus and not a requirement.
I don’t know, but maybe there’s a reason why the position hasn’t been filled since I left.