This week will consist of two parts: A) interview prep + notes, and B) homelabbing things. Surprisingly, he was able to secure interviews with different companies all week, save for Friday. Not all IT/Engineering interviews, some part-time work will be included. As it stands, he'll be interviewing for the following:

  • Monday — IT hardware company; food court cashier
  • Tuesday — audio technician / technical support
  • Wednesday — IT company
  • Thursday — restaurant host

Job Hunting

Applications

  • US AMR-Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc. — Automation Engineering Apprentice Support/Maintain/Improve automated systems in a complex fulfillment or distribution center…paired with mentors to carry out their assigned work at various facilities…12 week Related Technical Instruction with a partner college, followed by 3500 hours of On The Job Learning
  • Amazon — Automation Engineer Maximizing equipment reliability + operational performance in fulfillment centers…troubleshooting complex control systems, analyzing performance metrics, driving continuous improvement initiatives…optimize material handling equipment (MHE) systems + implement innovative projects…BS in computer science, electrical engineering, automation engineering, or equivalent, or 2+ years of PLC programming, automation engineering experience, experience with Ladder Logic and structure programming from Siemens, Allen-Bradley, or Codesys PLCs…Experience in PLC based controls design, development, implementation and support

Interview: Nexien Inc.

It is a field technician role supporting NY MTA faregate equipment. (one application question outright asked what the nearest MTA station was to his current location). Not so much IT helpdesk or low-voltage technician work as it is more along the lines of hardware installation, software monitoring, field service visits to troubleshoot electromechanical systems, all while working w/ subcontractors and MTA staff. Hands‑on, physical, mechanical‑electrical troubleshooting, still technically in the realm of A+ expertise, albeit slightly more physically demanding.

A very straightforward interview, wasted no time getting into questions. They interviewers explained that this was an initial interview and that he should await further steps should he be deemed fit for the role. All this considered, he believes it was a positive experience and hopes to move through the interview process smoothly.

Interview: Sang Tofu + KBBQ

Part-time cashier position, nothing else to it; at least, that's what was advertised. The position was simply listed on the cash register advertising the availability and a textable number. Very low-stakes, very casual.

His first day starts on Saturday around noon.

Homelab: More OMV Setup

Last entry covered basic NAS setup, which, when given the hardware, is very straightforward in terms of setup. The question them becomes: what else can be added in addition to OVM? Docker would be a popular option given how versatile it is. But before even that, the graduate must think back to his A+ learning, revisiting some concepts of mass storage that could benefit is resume and his to-be-installed NAS. The two biggest concerns for general data storage, besides the obvious perpetual need for available storage space, is recoverability and security. These two facets can, in a basic capacity, be accounted for with the use of disk encryption and SMART monitoring, for data security and drive failure notifications respectively.

While the HDDs don't have an outright risk of being stolen, there is no harm in adding encryption for added security so long as it doesn't degrade performance (if at all). And since the HDDs will be purchased secondhand off of eBay to save on costs, there is a non-zero chance they could fail; in this event, a lightweight SMART monitoring tool would come in handy to prevent further disaster (especially if data can't be rebuilt if in the case the HDDs will become a RAID 0).

OMV Encryption: Requires a disk wipe before adding encryption, so this step should come before many others; OMV doesn't support encryption natively, a plugin for LUKS encryption is needed - First install the OMV extras plugin (all instructions there) - With OMV Extras, the LUKS encryption plugin can be added - The new Encryption section under Storage should appear Disk can then be encrypted with a selection of encryption methods; of course, with encrypted drives, they need to be unlocked before(/after) use

OVM SMART monitoring: Actually much easier and nearly seamlessly integrated because it is a software RAID and not a hardware RAID (RAID controller needed, RPi cannot support it) - Simply configure SMART settings in Storage menu for individual drives

NAS Software setup order: - Install all necessary (encryption) plugins: OMV Extra, LUKS - Enable SMART monitoring for each HDD - Wipe HDDs - Using LUKS, encrypt each drive (dialogue box) - Unlock each drive (simple button click) - Build RAID 1 (redundantly wipes drives again) - Create file system (ext4 for universality) - Mount file system - Create accessible shared folders - Enable SMB/NFS protocols - Check if accessible on network

Summary

To be honest, the application to Sang was far more straightforward than expected, only a ~15min conversation setting him up as soon as possible for part-time work. It's only 2–3 days but each of them would be full-time hours, so it all balances out. As such, entries may decrease as he finally becomes busy with real work for the first time in what feels like a grueling eternity.

Of course that doesn't stop him from applying to IT work or even engineering work, though his view on the matter has slightly shifted. With his lack of experience and the general unwillingness to hire engineers (at least in his experience), he's repositioned his application efforts towards more IT roles, which has been working well for him recently what with Nexien Inc. today and ID Tech Solutions on Wednesday. His plan at the moment is to secure some position in helpdesk or field tech work that he can reliably maintain while applying more seriously to engineering roles. If he's already working in tech, that might lend himself towards more credibility in the eyes of HR.

Checkpoints

  • Full NAS Hardware + Software setup determined
  • Applications sent: 2

Major Takeaways

  • OMV natively supports SMART monitoring, which can be easily toggled per connected/configured drive.
  • While not natively supported by OMV, community-developed plugins exist to add drive encryption support.
  • First day of work as a cashier at Sang starts on Saturday around noon.