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Jon Benedict was a Senior Systems Integrator at America Online. He arrived at the Red Hat Summit in New Orleans in June of 2005 looking forward to three days chock-full of everything Linux and famed Cajun hospitality. He was also hoping to learn more about joining the faces of Red Hat, interested in a new job. By September, Jon was working as a Red Hat Global Professional Services (GPS) Consultant. How did attending the Red Hat Summit help Jon get a job? Read on and find out how the Summit can help you network, too.
Q. Why did you decide to attend Red Hat's Summit?
A. Jon: When the Summit was advertised, I thought it would be a great experience to be with other Linux-centric people and to network within Red Hat. I was definitely looking for a career change. I was bored at AOL, and I went to the Summit prepared with resumes, hoping to get my foot in the door. However, I also went with the expectation of attending the mini-seminars and being around other like-minded people for a few days. This was my 'summer camp for geeks.'
Q. How did the Summit measure up to your expectations?
A. Jon: I'm a geek at heart, so the technical tracks qualify as fun for me. Also the location, New Orleans, was fun. I was happy to see that the technical presentations were given mainly by people that helped develop the products. Having Q & A sessions with some of the world's best open source developers and engineers was very impressive. This was not the sales pitch I was expecting. Instead of a sales person stating "you should buy Red Hat because...,” it was developers and engineers explaining what they had been working on, and how it was relevant to other developers/engineers/admins. I was expecting sales people talking to geeks (not so good), as opposed to geeks talking to geeks (very good). When I got back to AOL, I sent an email to my chain of command explaining the cool technologies that I witnessed and why they were relevant to AOL. I'm sure I'm not the only person who did that. The evening festivities were a lot of fun too. Great events. I still show off my pictures of the Mardi Gras parade to the offsite party.
Q. What impression did the Red Hat associates make on you?
A. Jon: They definitely solidified my interest in joining Red Hat. The "buzz" surrounding the event, the people presenting the tracks, and the hatters I met. All had a profound effect. I went to the Summit wanting to "get a job at Red Hat," I left wanting to be "a part of Red Hat."
Q. So how did you make the leap from attending Summit to working at Red Hat?
A Jon: I wasn't offered a job during the Summit. (Darn it!) I got referred to the company just prior to attending the Summit but that didn't seem to go anywhere. Then 2-3 weeks after the Summit, I got an email from Christopher Basquez, wanting to speak to me about a potential job. I started as a GPS Consultant in mid-September. Attending the Summit really helped me break the ice before the interview process began.