How I got into Red Hat, Part 5
My first real job. An honest to goodness job. Not a contractor, not a temporary worker, not even a consultant. Like Pinocchio becoming a real boy, I had finally become a real employee. Not only was I a real employee this time, I was also the Sr. Linux Admin.
My first day I arrived at Tyson’s Corner to a tall mirrored glass office building. Like most first days, you get the tour but this was MY first “first day”, so I was really soaking it all in. As we made our way around the office, I peered out of the floor to ceiling windows. The Monster.com offices occupied the top floor of the building and you could see quite far off into the distance. Before my tour was over, I looked the window on that side of the office one more time. Right below me was the brown brick building next door and on its side hung a familiar logo, the Red Hat Shadowman. It was my very first day but I knew right then I wasn’t going to stay. From then on, every time I looked out the window I thought that I could be there instead of here.
The problem was, I didn’t think I was good enough. Not by a long shot. I had just left such a talented pool of engineers, I knew I had a long way to go to be as good as them. But now I had a new challenge. I didn’t have this team to rely on for guidance and wisdom anymore. I couldn’t look up the answer from someone who had done it before me. Instead of being a small fish in a big pond, I was downgraded to a puddle.
I had unfortunate work habits. I would stay late to work on things, lose track of time, and show up exhausted or late. I was learning but at the same time terrified I had bitten off more than I could chew. I wanted to make this stick, that it wasn’t a fluke, and I could actually do this job. Everything I had seen in other workplaces, other infrastructures, I was busy recreating.
My first real milestone was leading the rollout of RHEL 6. It came and went without much fanfare, just like any other upgrade I had worked on before. My confidence had grown to overshadow any doubts I had at the start of this job. Eventually I stopped looking out the window at the Red Hat building and started applying.
Interviewing at the building next door has a certain element of affair to it. It’s definitely naughty. You can’t show up to work in a suit randomly, people would ask questions. You could change in the lobby bathroom, maybe, but what if someone saw you? Even walking across the parking lot felt guilty. I had to apply and interview 3 separate times before I got in.
The day of the last interview, I said goodbye to my recruiter Dawn and scurried quickly back to my building. I grabbed a sandwich from Perfect Pita and ate at my desk to make up for the time spent interviewing. All of a sudden I felt as if I was being pulled back and forth. A ceiling panel crashed into the cubical next to me. I looked out the window and saw the the skyline waving up and down. With terrifying clarity I imagined the building falling over, watching the ground come flying towards the window. I had lived on the east coast all of my life and I never imagined there would be an earthquake in Tyson’s Corner.
Being on the top floor of the building made it seem worse. I jumped under my desk and didn’t come out until I saw the the ceiling lights stop shaking. As soon as it stopped, everyone in the office rushed the stair wells. People were flooding in from every emergency exit on every floor in a mad dash to get outside. Whenever I have been in fire drills before, everyone calmly walks down the stairs. You can even carry on a conversation with your office mates as you jot down the steps. This was an outright stampede.
When I got outside, everyone was gathering in spots away from the building. After about half an hour or so, some people were brave enough to go into the parking garage to get their cars. The rest of us stood outside on the sidewalk, waiting to hear if it was safe to go back into the building.
I was standing next to my boss’s boss, the Director of Operations, when I heard someone call my name. It was Dawn the Red Hat recruiter. She was in her car and pulling onto the street when she asked if I was okay. I replied yes and before she drove off she said “Good! We’ll get back to you about the interview soon”. I don’t blame her for what happened, we were all pretty shook up. When I looked over at my Director, she just said “We’re going to have to have a talk about that”.
