I was 20, second year of Computer Science, skipping most classes, and convinced I didn’t know enough to apply for anything. What I kept forgetting is that I’d been messing around with servers and databases since I was 11 or 12, back in 2008–2009. That background counts for something — it just took a push from the right person to make me see it.
Tip
I want to take a moment to thank @Dacian for giving me that much-needed push to get going.
Dacian practically dragged me out of bed to put together a CV. My first one was written in Notepad. I even printed it out just in case sending it online wasn’t enough — I genuinely had no idea how job applications worked at that point.
He’d seen a System Administrator listing at a company called Netex. Most people in IT around here equate the field with programming, so a sysadmin role was rare enough to get excited about. He knew I was into that side of things — we’d run an online gaming community together back in 2012 — so he didn’t hesitate to push me into it.
The Interview
At the company’s headquarters I handed in my CV and was told HR would follow up. I almost forgot it had happened, then got a call about a week later to schedule an interview.
The interview was in a conference room with an HR rep and the head of the IT department. They introduced the company, then asked me to talk about my experience and what I was looking for. I had the logic but not always the right vocabulary — which actually made for a more relaxed conversation than I expected.
Warning
I realized I had the logic but perhaps not the appropriate tech vocabulary. Nevertheless, this logic led to a pleasant and relaxed conversation.
The Questions
If you’re a beginner, try to answer these before checking.
Q: What is the administrator user in Linux?
Show Answer
Note
A: root
Q: How do you view open ports locally on a Linux machine?
Show Answer
Note
A: netstat -tulpen
Q: How do you view open ports on a remote Linux machine?
Show Answer
Note
A: nmap
Q: What are the basic file permissions in Linux?
Show Answer
Note
A: r - read (4), w - write (2), x - execute (1)
Q: What are the ports for https, ssh, imap, smtp, dns, etc.?
Show Answer
Note
A: http - 80; https - 443; ssh - 22; for the rest I don’t have them memorized, but I can find any of them quickly: cat /etc/services | grep -i mysql
Answers like that last one tend to land well — they show you understand the logic rather than just having facts memorized.
Q: What is /etc/shadow?
Show Answer
Note
A: A file containing local users and their encrypted passwords on Linux systems, readable only by root.
The Offer
The next day I actually went to a class — I was in Timișoara where I was enrolled, commuting from my hometown, and not attending much. I don’t recommend that approach; I think university is a real advantage, it just wasn’t clicking for me at the time.
Tip
I’d barely finished that first class when I got the call — I got the job.
The offer was slightly above minimum wage in Romania. I wasn’t focused on salary; I just wanted to be doing something real. I accepted on the spot.
The rest of that journey is on my about: merox.dev/about/. I learned a lot there and made some good friends — I still grab a beer with my former department head occasionally.
Gallery
Some nostalgic photos from that period
