I thought this was actually quite well written: honest but not hyperbolic, and not glamorizing the hard work like you see in many ads ("must be passionate about widgets!"). No ping-pong tables or free lunches, and even a bit sheepish about the social activities---in contrast to semi-mandatory drinking sessions sold like a perk. My only complaint (albeit a big one) is that if they recognize the job is undesirable, they should be compensating accordingly, so that ad should have included a salary range and a range for the vacation days.
Btw, a great book for surviving an environment like this is Time Management for System Administrators by Thomas Limoncelli. I'm not a sysadmin, but it has a lot of good advice for developers also.
It's your typical IT position, just clearly defined. I have no intentions of applying (comfortable where I am, TYVM), but if I were looking for an IT position, I would not dismiss this one just for their honesty.
I would say it was the point, but not for the shady reason you think. Rather, it ensures that people applying know what they are getting into immediately. Quite a good pre-filter.
Seems like this might be pretty effective. There are plenty of emotional robots out there that won't mind the stress levels and just want to constantly be useful.
I've worked positions like that, and a critical point not discussed in the ad is you've clearly got "X hours per day" and "X+10 hours of work to do" in that job role, so who prioritizes?
If they trust you to prioritize your own task list, or at least cooperatively list it, its kinda fun and relaxing. "That task is boring" = "Uh, well, there's just no time sorry".
On the other hand, If someone who only works "X/2 hours per day when he's not golfing" is micromanaging your every move and monday morning quarterbacking everything you did during the twice a week on average emergency at 2am while you were drunk (oddly enough, same employer, although a dramatically inferior manager), despite not having a technical background or any technical skills at all, and then complains you get into work five minutes late after being up all night while supposedly on salary, then that's not so good. I quit a job like that twice in my past.
It could be written: Seeking admin who needs constant validation of their existence, with limited desire to improve the system maintainability, who will reinforce the idea that their job is a black art.
I find the job posting to be completely unremarkable; they are essentially hiring a Consultant from a VAR (Value Added Reseller).
It's pretty much what I do today, except I do it for many customers and my current VAR doesn't have me on a on-call rotation, though it wouldn't be remarkable if I was on a rotation or depending on the VAR, permanently on call.
This is a dog whistle ad for consultants who maybe want to stop consulting independently or consultants who want to stop working for a VAR.
Barely enough to cover the medication required to keep your blood pressure at a healthy level. Luckily when you fall over face down in a balmy server room the people you need to save you are close by.
Btw, a great book for surviving an environment like this is Time Management for System Administrators by Thomas Limoncelli. I'm not a sysadmin, but it has a lot of good advice for developers also.