This story takes place while I was a consultant working for a firm out of Texas. For this gig I was sent to a training facility to be their SysAdmin.
I arrive on site at the correct time, and am let into the building. The staff member asks why I’ve shown up, and I respond that I’ve been hired to be a Systems Admin for this site. The guy looked very nonplussed, gave me the root password so I could start looking around, and disappeared into a back room.
Shortly later he leaves the site, leaving me alone.
About an hour later, someone from management shows up and welcomes me there, shows me around, and gives me an in-brief. After seeing the site and learning what they want / need, I ask who the person was who let me in initially.
Turns out it was their old SysAdmin. No one had told him yet…
Of course, anyone who gives their replacement the root password for their systems BEFORE confirming that I was actually legit has some serious security issues that needed to be addressed.
-WOW, that had to be awkward… -Rob
Picture Source: [codepinkhq (CC)]
I wrapped up a software gig. On my last day I was the last one out of the building. I reassigned root to the on site admin dude, turned out the lights, locked up, and headed home. I appreciate the trust, but that was bananas.
I took a contract with an Internet startup in San Jose, back at the tail end of the .com boom. I started on Monday. On Friday the guy I shared an office with got walked out of the building after lunch. They let us overlap by a week to make sure I was as good as my interview before pulling the trigger on him.
About a year later, I’m looking for another position and got brought in to interview at the company of a former coworker. After the interview, I get shown around a bit to say hi to some other mutual former coworkers who worked there. We walked by a desk with a familiar looking name plaque and I asked if that was the desk of the sys admin they were interviewing me to replace. On confirmation that it was, they asked me how I knew.
It was the same guy. For his sake, I’m glad he wasn’t there when they were showing me around, though the look on his face might have been entertaining for me. (I ended up taking an offer from another employer.)