Unix vs Linux: What's the Difference?

[asd1249jf]

I understand that you can put down UNIX as one of your skills acquired section, but can you put down LINUX as one?

 

[mr_coffee]

yes.

The more the better.

My resume has: Unix, Linux, AIX, z/OS, Windows

Put windows last, as everyone knows windows.

Managers just look for key words, the more key words the better. If resume A is equal to resume B, except one has Linux and Unix, and the other just put Unix, the one with more keywords will get it.

Just don't start putting distros of Linux that would be over kill.

Notice I put AIX, even though AIX is just a flavor of UNIX that IBM made. I could generalize and just put UNIX but it doesn't look as good.

Just don't put distros of Linux that would def. be overkill.

 

[asd1249jf]

Ah OK.

How much of Linux would you say you have to know to actually put it down as one of the "Skills acquired" section?

 

[D H]

The more the better? Not always.

Managers don't look at keywords a whole lot. Automated filters do that for them. You want the right keywords to get past the filters. Keywords are secondary once the resume gets past the filters. Some resumes have too many keywords. One or two lines should suffice. Look at it this way: Do you really want to work for an organization that wants you solely for your knowledge of the AOOS (Arcane and Obsolute Operating System)? Whether you are young or old, these jobs are best avoided.

I, for one, want to see some indication that a prospective employee has some ability to think independently, to lead, and in general, make it worthwhile to have that person as an employee. Keywords don't do that, at least not in my field.

 

[mr_coffee]

I agree D H,

I, for one, want to see some indication that a prospective employee has some ability to think independently, to lead, and in general, make it worthwhile to have that person as an employee. Keywords don't do that, at least not in my field.

This is usually shown in person, not something you can show on your resume unless you have job experience in the field prior to the internship/co-op.It does help to have some sort of experience, for example, what impressed my employer was the fact I led a team of student programmers to develop a piece of software to help out an animal shelter to keep track of their animals when I was in high school. It doesn't sound that impressive but...

This showed leadership, creative thinking, programming skills, and showing I could go from initial concept of an idea and follow it through the software cycle to the end product.

If you haven't been involved in any out side of school programming projects, do something on your own. ( I'm assuming your a Comp Sci major)

Keywords are secondary once the resume gets past the filters.

How are they secondary, if you need those keywords to get past the filters? If you can't get past the filters, you won't even get to show the manager the other skills you mentioned "... a prospective employee has some ability to think independently, to lead, and in general, make it worthwhile to have that person as an employee."

Keywords and a high GPA in my opinion is what gets you the initial interview, from there you have to impress them in person.

NOTE: keywords I'm talking about are programming languages/operating systems/software

l46kok,

If you don't think you could show them if asked in an interview then don't put it on your resume.NOTE:

I'm getting rehired at IBM next summer and I was amazed at what my manager told me.

I did 1 small project in PHP, I used z/OS operating system a few times, and he told me to put it down as a skill on my resume.

So I used it very little, and yet he made me put it on my resume, his logic is the following:

If given a project in PHP I could easily look up what I didn't know and do the project even though I'm not a pro in the z/OS environment or PHP. This is true, but its also true with any language, you can easily pick it up in a day or 2 and start coding away.

So his idea of skills on a resume aren't what mine are. I wouldn't feel comfortable putting a skill on a resume unless I'm quite knowledgeable about it.

But he told me the more keywords the better.

He also told the other 3 co-ops to do the same, the one kid never even used z/OS and yet he told him to put it on for now, and make sure he gets experience in it before he leaves IBM. :P

 

[asd1249jf]

I agree D H,



This is usually shown in person, not something you can show on your resume unless you have job experience in the field prior to the internship/co-op.

Keywords and a high GPA in my opinion is what gets you the initial interview, from there you have to impress them in person. If you can't get passed the filters, then you can never show them your other qualities.

It does help to have some sort of experience, for example, what impressed my employer was the fact I led a team of student programmers to develop a piece of software to help out an animal shelter to keep track of their animals when I was in high school. It doesn't sound that impressive but...

This showed leadership, creative thinking, programming skills, and showing I could go from initial concept of an idea and follow it through the software cycle to the end product.

If you haven't been involved in any out side of school programming projects, do something on your own. ( I'm assuming your a Comp Sci major)

l46kok,

If you don't think you could show them if asked in an interview then don't put it on your resume.


NOTE:

I'm getting rehired at IBM next summer and I was amazed at what my manager told me.

I did 1 small project in PHP, I used z/OS operating system a few times, and he told me to put it down as a skill on my resume.

So I used it very little, and yet he made me put it on my resume, his logic is the following:

If given a project in PHP I could easily look up what I didn't know and do the project even though I'm not a pro in the z/OS environment or PHP. This is true, but its also true with any language, you can easily pick it up in a day or 2 and start coding away.

So his idea of skills on a resume aren't what mine are. I wouldn't feel comfortable putting a skill on a resume unless I'm quite knowledgeable about it.

But he told me the more keywords the better.

He also told the other 3 co-ops to do the same, the one kid never even used z/OS and yet he told him to put it on for now, and make sure he gets experience in it before he leaves IBM. :P

I'm a computer engineering major and I've dealt with Linux systems previously. I wanted to ask what in particular about Linux the companies look for in order to put that as one of your "Skills acquired" criteria.

 

[mr_coffee]

if you can navigate through Linux in command line, install/configure the OS if needed, install programs, etc, that should be enough. You should also know how the file system is structured, what key directories store what, etc if asked in an interview.

Note: being able to use ubuntu distro wouldn't be what I call knowing Linux :P I think that distro is easier to configure than windows.

They arn't asking you to re-write the kernel or anything.

Shell scripting is also a plus but if you do know how to write say, bash scripts, that should be listed as a separate skill as well.

Basically if you are as comfortable with Linux as you are with windows you should put it as a skill.

Depending on what company you are trying to get into, they probably have a lot of their analysis software on Linux/Unix, I know a lot of the Comp Eng tools I used when I created test benches for the Processor I made it was all in Unix or Linux.

 

[D H]

One of the many hats I wear is hiring. Keywords only become important if I am on the fence about a candidate. They most certainly are not the first thing I look for. For a freshout candidate, I look at field of study and concentration, degree level, GPA, the school, research projects, external activities, layout, and finally keywords. To me, layout tells me more than keywords. On the other hand, the right keywords do help the resume get on my desk or in my e-mail.

Do not put Linux on your resume if you only know what Linux means. Do not put Linux on your resume if you have worked with some non-Linux flavor of Unix but not Linux itself. Do not put anything on your resume that might be perceived by a potential employer as a lie. You are history if caught in anything that resembles a lie during your interview. You might well be history if the lie doesn't manifest itself until after you start working.

 

[AlephZero]

yes.

The more the better.

My resume has: Unix, Linux, AIX, z/OS, Windows
...
Notice I put AIX, even though AIX is just a flavor of UNIX that IBM made. I could generalize and just put UNIX but it doesn't look as good.

As a part-time interviewer, I disagree. If you put something on a CV, remember you run the risk that your interviewer knows more about the subject than you do!

If somebody asked "I see you are familiar with three different versions of Unix. Can you tell me the main differences between them?", then "AIX is just a flavor of Unix that IBM made" probably wouldn't be an acceptable answer, if the guy on the other side of the desk had ever torn out handfuls of hair trying to port software from **ix to AIX...

 

[mr_coffee]

AlpehZero,

I know AIX, that's why I put it on my resume.

I could explain the differences between say Solaris and AIX.

I never said I didn't know it. All I was making clear was, be specific, if you know AIX, put AIX, not just Unix in general.

If you know Linux, put Linux. The OP asked, if he should put both Linux and Unix so I was expanding on his question.

 

[leon1127]

I really think depend on what job you are looking for. If you are looking for CS job, knowing few shell command won't do you any good. On the other hand, if you are applying a financial job, knowing few shell commands make you superior. I am a maths major and i have just learned linux for few months. My classmates have (almost) no knowledge in linux and still put linux on their resume with knowledge of KDE and GNOME...

 

[asd1249jf]

if you can navigate through Linux in command line, install/configure the OS if needed, install programs, etc, that should be enough. You should also know how the file system is structured, what key directories store what, etc if asked in an interview.

Note: being able to use ubuntu distro wouldn't be what I call knowing Linux :P I think that distro is easier to configure than windows.

They arn't asking you to re-write the kernel or anything.

Shell scripting is also a plus but if you do know how to write say, bash scripts, that should be listed as a separate skill as well.

Basically if you are as comfortable with Linux as you are with windows you should put it as a skill.

Depending on what company you are trying to get into, they probably have a lot of their analysis software on Linux/Unix, I know a lot of the Comp Eng tools I used when I created test benches for the Processor I made it was all in Unix or Linux.

Do I also have to put which specific version of Linux I am capable of using on my resume? I've only used CentOS and Fedora before.

I know the basics of command line in Linux, installed Fedora 7, installed programs on it, and have configured the basic networking in it.

I'm not sure what you mean by the file system, you mean like ext2,ext3 type of HDD configuration on partitioning?