I applied for another job at Y. Seriously, I was about to give up on them, but this job posting appeared right when I got back from my trip (on my day off, actually). Job description and my cover letter below… Wish me luck!

Yahoo! Operations Engineer

Job No. RX1000001380
Location US – Sunnyvale
Job Function ENGR/IS
Department Site Operations-Dev – COGS Xfer
Department Number 501900-120

Description
Linux, Perl, System Administration

Be a member of a vital dynamic team that operates Yahoo!’s leading Web Search engine. You will run, monitor, and develop tools for our large-scale search engine using Linux. Multiple search clusters are located around the world that will be administered by you from a central location in Sunnyvale, CA. It is a challenging position that allows one to utilize the latest in hardware and software.

Responsibilities:
* Administer Linux clusters
* Monitor the health and performance of the clusters
* Develop and maintain in-house automation to run the clusters world-wide
* Coordinate and execute changes to live cluster software and configurations
* Diagnose and repair production clusters
* Be part of the on-call pager rotation
* Participate in the design of cluster configurations
* Closely work with other system administrator and network teams

Requirements:
* 2+ years experience with Linux
* Strong Perl scripting skills
* 2+ years experience administering large Linux installations in a tier 1 environment
* BS Computer Science and/or strong System Administration background.

My cover letter was:

I have been with AltaVista Search for 6 years, serving as both Senior System Administrator for 6 years, and also serving in the role of Site Ops Manager for 5 of those years. Previous to AltaVista, I also have experience in system/network administration for a small business, as well as both SQA and tech support experience.

I have a large amount of experience with monitoring and troubleshooting various applications having to do with Search (both web servers and back ends as well). During my tenure with AltaVista, some accomplishments include:

• Documentation server, and cross-training all staff
• Managing the migration from Alpha to Linux
• Managing all DNS for 1000+ zones
• Helping to bring the NOC online in 1999, and migrating monitoring from custom scripts and pagers to web-based monitors
• Designing and implementing content replication systems using rsync
• Desinging and helping to implement graphing tools (rrdtool)
• Customizing the incident tracking system for custom reports, and to tie in with monitors

I look forward to talking with you. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, etc.