IT Technician to Network Manager?

cokecan

cokecan

cokecan

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Hey Guys

I'm after a bit of job advice

I am/was an IT technician at a school up until a couple of months ago when I had to finish due to the school creating a new job (basically combining my job with another vacancy they had at the time) that would have involved me doing less IT work and more web design/printing/office kinda work. I was only on a part time contract at the time which was comming to an end so decided to leave it and move on. I was hoping to go back to full time in my old job there as a teccie but that didn't happen :(

Anyway....while I've been looking for job's I've been wondering one thing. What does it take to go from IT Technician to Network Manager? I worked pretty closely with the Network Manager at my last school and actually stood in for him on a number of occasions, but after seeing what he did on a day to day basis compared to what I did made me wonder whether I could pull that job off with my current knowledge and experience.

Obviously I am lacking in experience with Exchange as well as some of the higher level stuff in Server 2003 and Active Directory that I didn't get involved with as a teccie but it's nothing I couldn't/wouldn't learn from doing and researching (Read: OcUK and Google lol). No doubt there would other stuff too that I have limited or no experience in.

Is there anyone thats gone from an IT Teccie to Network Manager or similar role? how did you make the transition etc? any advice would be appreciated :)
 
Hrm, I did this route; Desktop Support, 1st/2nd line Support, 2nd Line Support, Systems Admin, IT Co-Ordinator, and now IT Manager.
 
Being network manager doesn't necessarily mean you need to be better equipped technically, i am FAR FAR more technical than my manager, i practicly run the network when it comes to the technical side of things

The things you need to be good at as a school network manager really are budget management, a "no bull****" approach to the way you and the staff below you are treated, an eye for advancement and the ability to take no **** from the people you command!
 
Once you move into a Manager role you will actually find your hands-on work will decrease.
I've always been hands on, however when I was appointed IT Manager I found that I was leaving the majority of the hands on work to my Systems Administrators and I was having to concentrate more and more on Project Management and also managing my team.

Don't neccessarily look at "Network Manager" as a role for somebody at the top of the technical tree.
If you want to remain hands on then a manager role is probably not what you seek.
 
cokecan72 said:
Hey Guys

I'm after a bit of job advice

I am/was an IT technician at a school up until a couple of months ago when I had to finish due to the school creating a new job (basically combining my job with another vacancy they had at the time) that would have involved me doing less IT work and more web design/printing/office kinda work. I was only on a part time contract at the time which was comming to an end so decided to leave it and move on. I was hoping to go back to full time in my old job there as a teccie but that didn't happen :(

Anyway....while I've been looking for job's I've been wondering one thing. What does it take to go from IT Technician to Network Manager? I worked pretty closely with the Network Manager at my last school and actually stood in for him on a number of occasions, but after seeing what he did on a day to day basis compared to what I did made me wonder whether I could pull that job off with my current knowledge and experience.

Obviously I am lacking in experience with Exchange as well as some of the higher level stuff in Server 2003 and Active Directory that I didn't get involved with as a teccie but it's nothing I couldn't/wouldn't learn from doing and researching (Read: OcUK and Google lol). No doubt there would other stuff too that I have limited or no experience in.

Is there anyone thats gone from an IT Teccie to Network Manager or similar role? how did you make the transition etc? any advice would be appreciated :)
Click to expand...

Also bare in mind that "Network Manager" means different things to different companies. It took my a few moments to figure out why you were talking about Exchange, MS Servers and AD in relation to networks, since they are nothing to do with networking.
 
Are you talking network management as in managing networks or network management as in managing network support infrastructure (ie, staff)?
 
Ah sorry for the confusion here, I'm talking about the support infrastructure side (i think). The last couple of places I've been at, the network managers as they were called, seemed to do a fair bit of hands on work, but also managed the IT technicians, the IT budget etc etc

I never thought about the actual role differening that much between companies/schools because 'Network Manager' doesnt necessarily mean the same thing for each. That's an interesting point you've all raised for me.

I reason I love being a teccie is because of the hands on work. the job never gets boring for me as there's always somethin new to mess with. If that's not as easy to do in a Network Manager position (similar to the Network Manager position I briefly descibed a couple of paragraphs up) then maybe that's not the right way for me to go?
 
CCNA qualification would help a great deal.

I'm currently working as an IT technician within a school, But I have my CCNA mainly because I want to work as a Network Engineer.

The Job I currently have was too good to let pass by, But as soon as I see that perfect Network engineering job turn up near home, I will be jumping ship.
 
Well for a Windows-based network management role I think an MCSE would prove more valuable than a CCNA... as network management and network engineer are two very different things.
 
Wardie said:
What you're looking to do sounds more like a Senior Network Engineer to me...
Click to expand...

I'm hopefully being stepped up to that from regular it technician soon :D comes with a nice bump in pay wohoo

Just thought i would blow my own trumpet in a moment of joy there :p
 
Congrats :)

Networking was where I wanted to head but I knew that ultimately my goal was management.

I'm thinking about starting a foundation degree in Business Management next week, although i'm still studying for my CCNA.

It'll be going to college on a Tuesday and Wednesday night after work.... so i'm not sure :(
 
Congrats mrbios, is this something you've been working towards or just somethin your work has decided you deserve/could do etc.

I've got an MCDST and I was planning on workin towards an MCSE. From the sounds of it, Network Engineer is more along the lines of what I'm looking for.
 
It depends where you want to work really...

Bigger organisations will generally have networks staff, and server staff. If you want to take on a role that covers both the server support and networks, you're only likely to get this at a smaller firm.
 
I did:

IT Tech to Network Manager to Company Director of an IT Support company which I started when I got bored of being a Network Manager.

However, as an IT Tech, I had a lot of experience of AD etc so that helped a lot. I had to people under me when I was NM, but I stopped finding it a challenge after I sorted out the network, so started my own company.
 
cokecan72 said:
Congrats mrbios, is this something you've been working towards or just somethin your work has decided you deserve/could do etc.
Click to expand...

A bit of both really, I've been pushing for a pay rise and my manager knows I deserve one for the level and amount of work I have to do so the easiest way to get me a decent pay rise was to be regraded as a senior IT tech rather than a regular techy trying to go up the pay scale

Council funded school = fat chance of moving up the ladder at any decent rate, so regrading was definitely the way to go
 
I work in a school as an IT Tech as well, I don't think the step up to Network Manager is too huge the only thing you need is decent experience though. In terms of the day to day stuff I find me and my manager almost do exactly the same thing but when it comes to decisions etc that's his domain, but I'm pretty sure I could step up and do it.

In terms of you lacking experience that is something you can easily pick up with a few training courses or train yourself with some guides especially in AD and Exchange.

Good luck
 
Network manager roles in schools especially vary massively, mine was completely different to someone in a neighbouring school, same LEA. Experience and actual ability to use/repair/train people on the things they need will matter most, supervisory experience and frankly qualifications won't count for much without the technical experience in most cases too. Only in larger organisations, where they're using the "network manager" title in place of an I.T. manager will supervisory experience be required.

I went from (once I decided to go into IT). Technical Analyst(8 years) > Network manager(2 years) > Senior I.T. Project lead (1 year now).
 
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