Applied for a position online as a Linux Systems Administrator. Got a call back from a recruiter in less than a few hours after applying online on the website. I was looking for a remote position for now with the potential of moving. The recruiter aid all they were hiring remotely for was a new position called an Linux Enterprise Support Engineer, and set up an initial phone interview which was primarily basic LAMPP stack questions that most admins should know. Interview went well. A few weeks later a phone interview was set up for a phone interview with an account manager person. The interview was basically "how would you" and "give and example", with a focus on examples. Both phone interviews changed time and person I was supposed to speak to. After a week or two I was notified by the recruiter they wanted to fly me out.. I got an email about when I could come (currently employed) and i gave them a range of dates I could work with. I checked my email a few minutes later and got a confirmation for my flight and hotel without anyone checking to make sure that would work. I was a little put off that they booked a flight and accommodations without checking with me to see if that would work. But it happened to be a time I could so i made the trip to San Antonio. I was put up in a very nice hotel downtown on the Riverwalk. I was supposed to be at The Castle at 9am for the beginning interview. I knew it was a laid back atmosphere but I shaved and wore a suit and tie based on the recruiter's recommendation. After arriving,someone finally came to the front desk at about 9:20, once again it was not the person I was supposed to meet. This seemed to be the norm. Late and not who you were arranged to meet with. The first interview was a panel of what i assume were senior manger types. They were very polite and basically described the position in more detail and we talked about generalities. I felt that it went well. The second interview was the technical interview. It was one tech in person and another Enterprise Support Engineer over teleconference. The first thing i noticed was that the real live person seemed rushed and almost annoyed at being there. When we connected with the remote interviewer i got the same impression immediately. Having worked in IT for 20 years this didn't give me a good vibe. This (and i could be wrong) is the sign of stress and a bad work life balance. They proceeded to ask me extremely detailed questions that were so specific about Apache that without a reference guide or manpages i honestly don't know many people who could answer some of the questions from off the top of their head. I answered what i could the best i could and then explained that I don't know off the top of my head but could figure it out with a manpage or google in less than a few minutes. I sincerely got the impression they either already had someone internal in mind or was just in a pissy mood. The were still professional but I could just tell. After the technical interview, another panel of three that were account manager/business types came in. Basic information stuff. I knew I wasn't going to get an offer based on the technical interview. I have been working in IX and Linux since 2001. I've been managing LAMPP and Linux based app servers for over 10 years at my current employer. So while i may not have been what they were looking for, the technical interview, with such specific minute details that barely come into play in real life, felt as if though i was torpedoed by the tech guys. I don't know why. But it is what it is. I have a job and by the end of the interview realized that I didn't want to work there anyway based on the stress level of the two tech guys. I've been in this business long enough to know what stress looks like. I was informed by the recruiter a couple of weeks later that they weren't going to make me an offer. Which is fine. What really disturbed me about the entire process was that no one ever showed up on time, it was never the person i was told i would be talking to, they screwed up the hotel reservation (I ended up having leave my credit card # with the hotel), and to top it off I didn't get re-imbursed for my travel expenses for 4 months (which required over 20 emails to get done). I finally go the check a couple of days ago. I think this company would be a great place to get into for a lower level admin or someone trying to break into the latest cool technologies, but i could feel the stress beaming off the tech guys. They have a lot of neat stuff. But at this stage of my career I can buy my own sodas and gym membership. Unfortunately for Rackspace, i think their heyday is over. They just really don't seem to have it together. The only positive experience was the recruiter based in Austin. He was really professional and the only one who seemed to have the motive to get things done. I think maybe they should promote him to lead the company.

Recruiter round was okay. Tech round was a joke. The interviewer was telling me that money should not motivate me, and I am asking too much. I should be greatful to have opportunities and not ask for more :) But the tech part was not convincing either, basically they move to new stuff and looking for SMEs to handle a high load for low payment. At least it was quick to find out where its heading.