Re: [SAGE] System Engineer vs System Administrator (wasResume inflation)

[Brad Knowles <brad@stop.mail-abuse.org>]

At 9:17 AM -0700 2004-09-16, Trey Harris wrote:

>  Most sites I've been at have either called everyone a "System Engineer" or
>  everyone a "System Administrator".  Those few sites I'm familiar with that
>  use both titles seem to fall basically into two groups:
>
>  1) "System Engineer" was a term for, or perhaps the next step above,
>     "Senior System Administrator"; or
>
>  2) "System Administrators" did operations and reactive work, while "System
>     Engineers" did automation and proactive work.

	I've had both titles.  In my experience, the difference was that 
Administration was an operations-only focused job, while Engineering 
included architecting, designing, building, and implementing the 
systems that would be used, and may also have included the 
operations/administration stuff once the systems were in production.

	In other words, some of the aspects of development were included 
in the Engineering.

>  If not, it's plain inflation--Engineering sounds more impressive than
>  Administration.

	I'd believe that, too.

-- 
Brad Knowles, <brad@stop.mail-abuse.org>

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

     -- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), reply of the Pennsylvania
     Assembly to the Governor, November 11, 1755

   SAGE member since 1995.  See <http://www.sage.org/> for more info.