Not All VMware Jobs Are The Same!
In 2000, I got my first request to install VMware software on someone’s desktop. At the time I was a curious help desk technician for Northrup Grumman in Yuma, Arizona. After the installation, I recall how fascinated my 2 coworkers and I were by this new technology that let multiple operating systems run on the same hardware.
My, how things have changed.
Now I live and work in Phoenix, Arizona, manage vSphere engineers, and from those simple days 15 years ago I never would have guessed VMware would be what it is today. I’m still fascinated!
Source: wayback machine vmware v 1. 1
Good News for VMware Job Seekers
Here are a couple of articles I recently found that should get you excited about a career in virtualization. The first is a Tech article about how virtualization is the Top Priority in 2015 and the second is a Wall Street Journal article about how virtualization will keep growing at least until 2019. This is good news for new admins just getting their virtualization career started because there’s still plenty of time to join in all the fun.
Now let’s get to what brought you here and look at today’s VMware jobs in Phoenix, Arizona.
VMware Jobs in Phoenix
Here’s a screenshot that shows how many jobs I found on SimplyHired with a keyword search of VMware and Phoenix, Arizona (see the red arrow).
There are 2033 jobs listed with job titles such as:
- System Administrator: Network Consultant
- Windows Server Administrator
- Junior Systems Administrator
- System Administrator
- Network Administrator
- Senior Active Directory Administrator
Now, if I filter for only jobs with the title’s VMware’.
Interesting, now we only get 578 jobs with titles such as:
- VMware VDI Support
- Senior VMware Engineer
- Senior Systems Administrator – VMware
- VMware Admin
- VMware Engineer
What’s the difference in the 2 lists?
Maybe nothing… But then again, maybe a lot!
Here are my thoughts about the difference.
If the word ‘VMware’ or ‘vSphere’ is in the job title then chances are the hiring manager is looking specifically for someone to help design, build or support their vSphere or other VMware solution such as VDI.
Whereas, if the title does not say VMware, then they want someone who can jump in as needed to help with vSphere, but most likely they are looking for a system admin who can build and deploy virtual servers either from templates or from provisioning scripts while doing other system admin tasks.
Let’s dig a little deeper into the Phoenix Job market and look at OpenStack…
OpenStack Jobs in Phoenix
Hmm …only 65 OpenStack jobs.
But check this out! There’s an interesting difference in the job titles.
- Senior Cloud Architect (IaaS)
- Principal Cloud Solution Architect
- Solution Architect – Hybrid Cloud
- Cloud Infrastructure Engineer
I’m not making this stuff up!
VMware definitely has more jobs in Phoenix with 578 versus OpenStack with 65. But I’m suspecting the opportunities (based on the job titles) are quite different.
Why the BIG difference in VMware Job Titles compared to OpenStack Job Titles?
Here’s what I think…
Hiring managers looking for VMware skills want System Administrators or Engineers to handle infrastructure; whereas hiring managers looking for OpenStack skills want Cloud Engineers or Architects.
I’ve seen this mindset first hand over the last 5 years where senior leadership does not think of their internal vSphere infrastructure as a private cloud.
That said, I myself do believe vSphere is private cloud infrastructure but only to the extent, it is managed that way, which unfortunately is not how it is in many IT organizations that are still throwing tickets around and manually building out virtual servers by hand.
What does this mean for beginners?
For the person just beginning this probably doesn’t matter much because all you want to do is start working with cool technology.
But for the person thinking long-term it may be the difference between taking a job where you will be stuck maintaining the status-quo versus finding a place where you can make a difference.
VMware is still a great career choice and I see these jobs continuing to grow and expand but I’m also bullish on OpenStack skills and jobs because as much as I like vSphere, I can’t ignore the trend I see happening in Phoenix. Thanks for reading.
Please feel free to share this. Good Luck!
