Linux Article from CompTIA

Here is an article that CompTIA did recently about the Linux job market. They included a lot of information that I provided them with. We appreciate Kristen putting a lot of the comments throughout the article! We are always happy to provide any publication with as much information as we can about the Linux/Open Source labor market.

For People with Minimal Profesional Experience

This is a good article from Linux.com outlining the possibilities for technology professionals to gain experience when finding it difficult to meander through the traditional means in order to get that relevant experience. If you want to move your career forward without stepping on every rung of the ladder, then open source is the avenue you want to take.

I tell people time and time again, open source based technologies allow you to showcase your talents without having to be the one that does best on an interview for a certain job. You do not have to be from an Ivy League school, or prove why you are still a good fit for the role even though you do not have the 7+ years of experience the company is looking for. Start contributing to open source and build your brand from there. If successful, the marketing of your skills will be as simple as doing a Google search. There is no substitution for a traceable record of your achievements toward an open source project.

For those interested in Linux kernel work, I highly encourage people to get involved with testing initially. It is a great way to get a feel for the development process and bring awareness to any noticeable bugs. Andrew Morton continuously says that there are never enough kernel testers out there. So, this is a great way to get your feet wet initially, and will hopefully lead you to kernel development.

Best of luck to all the upstart open source developers out there! If you ever have any questions, please feel free to email me, or you can visit me on our IRC channel. I will look forward to hearing from you!

Great Guide for Developers Looking to Participate in the Linux Community

Jonathan Corbet recently released a wonderful guide on how a company can go about participating successfully with the Linux community. You can find the full guide here.

As more and more companies are adopting Linux as their development platform, it is a must that these companies learn how to interact with the community to make sure their kernel enhancements are successful in becoming part of the mainline kernel. Each structured entity always has its own way of operating, and the Linux community is no different. Thus, one must adapt to that culture in order to realize success. This is a great step by step outline on how to do just that.

DoJ cracking down on H1-B only job ads

I found this article on the Register very interesting. We have watched for the past few years as these consultancy firms have eaten up all the H1-B visa allotment every year. Now, it appears that the DoJ is finally on the ball.

The problem is that these consulting firms receive a large number of the allotment each year, which in turn puts companies that truly are in need of such visas at a disadvantage. The consulting firms request these visas even if they do not have an adequate amount of work for the individuals. But, they are willing to put them "on the bench" until the necessary work becomes available, since the wages that they are paying them are probably at least 20% below market.

Ultimately, it would be nice if the system worked the way it was suppose to. Essentially, a company has a position, and they fill it with an individual that is in need of a work visa after exhausting all other avenues.

Where the Guild is dead wrong in this article is on two points. One, from our vantage point, we do suffer from a shortage of technology professionals. In the open source space, there continues to be a rather large supply/demand discrepancy. Secondly, the individuals that we work with that are on an H1-B visa are doing senior level engineering work as opposed to entry level. I realize that there are a number of them that are probably doing entry level work, but just as with everything, you can not just lump all of these individuals together.

All in all, it will be very interesting to see how this plays out. It appears that the DoJ has finally started to pay attention to something that has been going on for a few years now.

Partnership with KernelTrap

We have just started a partnership with the site KernelTrap (www.kerneltrap.org). As a result, we will supply KernelTrap with the job postings on their job board. Since we spend about 70% of our time doing Linux kernel engineer searches, we figured this was a logical move.

Jeremy Andrews has done a fantastic job with KernelTrap over the years. He provides great information and summaries of the ongoings in the Linux kernel world. I have always thoroughly enjoyed reading the interviews he conducts with leading and influential Linux kernel engineers in the world today.

We look forward to working with KernelTrap, and hopefully this will turn out to be a successful venture!