I've received 15 SSH keys since posting the link to the job on Nanog. We may be hiring in the near future, but there are no open positions currently.
As to the rest of the inquiries, I humbly submit: The Telerama Hiring FAQ, v0.5: 1) Where did you get your tests? Our tests are designed in-house. They are tailored to our particular systems and problems. They consist of a number of tasks that emulate real-world situations. They get progressively more difficult, with the last stages nearly impossible to complete, even by the most highly gifted individual. The tests are designed not only to measure technical proficiency, but also to give them a feeling for the way we do things (i.e. our "corporate culture"). The intent is to foster self-selection, allowing people to bow out if they feel they aren't going to be a good fit. 2) Why are you asking candidates for their SSH key? In addition to the sentiment that resumes are wholly inadequate tools by which to perform preliminary evaluations of candidates, we have a couple of purposes for requesting an SSH key: A) It demonstrates that the applicant actually read the posting, and therefore might truly consider themselves a good match. Lots of people, especially on the large job sites, will send their resumes to hundreds of different companies with very little discrimination. B) It shows that the applicant either knew about the technology or had the wherewithal to learn quickly and effectively about the technology. 3) But I have an impressive resume, why don't you want it? If you are able to demonstrate, that you possess the basic attributes necessary to be successful at the job position, then we will probably be looking at your resume. We are not trying to do away with resumes. We do request them further along in the hiring process. 4) I'm not interested in the job, but I want to take the tests. The tests require human shepherding and a number of specially-configured boxes. None of these resources are currently allocated. If you are not serious about the job, you probably don't want to take them anyway: when the tests are being given, you are asked to adhere to a particular testing schedule, and your response time is included in the metric that determines whether to advance through the process. 5) Are you hiring? As of this writing, 11/14/2003, there are currently no open technical positions. Please check out our web site at http://www.telerama.com to see if there are active positions.