Twenty-Four Months Dusty

I could not immediately recite where to change system limits on an OpenBSD box.

I knew why I had hesitated.

The phone screen had focused on granular systems-administration questions. I had expected a role that mixed hands-on work with architecture and larger technical decisions. The interview sounded more like maintaining systems beside two other administrators with little input into the direction.

I asked for clarification. What was the actual title? What would I own? Was this the job we had discussed or a different one?

The answer was encouraging, but I also wanted to address the rusty parts directly.

I had spent most of the previous two years in a director-level role at Beatport. I still worked on the systems, but some commands and file locations that had once been automatic were now twenty-four months dusty in my head.

Give me a terminal and the problem would come back quickly. I could use the system, read the logs, search what I did not remember, and implement the change. Ask me to recite the location of a setting with no machine in front of me and I might hesitate.

I suggested a screen-sharing session. Let somebody watch me work instead of treating quick recall as the only proof that I could solve the problem.

That was the honest version. I wanted more day-to-day technical work again. I wanted to learn a new environment and improve its availability. I also wanted room to contribute beyond a ticket queue. I asked for the screen-sharing session.