Any Network Engineers?

Viro

Viro

Viro

Associate
Joined
16 May 2014
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Hi, I'm currently 17 and have got to the point where I need to pick one thing and study it, because at the moment I have a average knowledge of technology. I would like to become a Network engineer, but at the moment I am confused on what to study. I was wondering if anyone would be able to say what they did to become a network engineer. I have looked at "Cisco" and think that may be a good starting point, but then I am unsure what networking courses to do with them. Any help would be very much appreciated! :)
 
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Networking is Networking is Networking. It's where you specialise which will differ.

Cisco is a specialisation which includes courses like CCNA. Cisco stuff is also widely used and so getting a CCNA represents a pretty solid qualification. You will still need a strong foundation in networking as a whole though.

You need to decide what you want to actually do with it? Design, Security, Planning/Implementation, Support?

Someone who wants to work in the Security field will take a completely different approach to someone who just wants to be a Cisco specialised network technician.
 
Sin_Chase said:
Networking is Networking is Networking. It's where you specialise which will differ.

Cisco is a specialisation which includes courses like CCNA. Cisco stuff is also widely used and so getting a CCNA represents a pretty solid qualification. You will still need a strong foundation in networking as a whole though.

You need to decide what you want to actually do with it? Design, Security, Planning/Implementation, Support?

Someone who wants to work in the Security field will take a completely different approach to someone who just wants to be a Cisco specialised network technician.
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Okay that makes more sense, I think I will have to look into it more myself, thank you for the help!
 
I used to be one.ccna is a very solid course and will provide you a sound foundation to build on. Take one step at a time. I'm highly specialised now but that is not how it starts. Jus get the vanilla ccna to begin with.

Not logged into a router for a few years but still maintain my qualifications.
 
The CCNA certification can be done in one exam or two. If you have no real background in networking I would suggest the two exam route. The first part is the CCENT and the second makes it a CCNA.

I sat and passed the CCENT exam after attending the CCNA course through work. I have no real interest in high level networking which sitting this course really underlined for me. Many people see it as a way to progress or move from a service desk role. Its one of those things you either enjoy or you don't. I have mates and ex work colleagues who love the whole Cisco networking thing and work their way through the different certs.

There are other non vendor specific courses like the network+
 
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Personally what you could do is start at the bottom on a help desk then get your foot into desktop support and then move into network support.

This way you can study as a network engineer while having your foot in the door. Been a network engineer can vary. Our guys only just learned Casper for managing Apple devices centrally so they are progressing/learning from Cisco/SCCM.

IT is a mine field.
 
A strong interest is definitely the only requirement. Experience also accounts for a lot. If I could do it all again I would definitely try to land an IT job/apprenticeship as early as I could. Unfortunately it was a long time before I found out what I wanted to do!

Courses are always a good thing as you will get a solid foundation (including things you may not naturally pick up during the course of a job) on which to build. As above, Cisco's CCNA is a great place to start. The practical implementations in the course are obviously very Cisco-centric, but all the theory can be applied regardless of who makes the hardware.
 
Energize said:
It's certainly useful to maintain your knowledge regardless of whether you use it in your job.
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I definitely found some of it useful. My company and I decided not to go down the Cisco route in the end. I like to keep up to date with things and generally do a cert a year if i can.
 
admittedly infrastructure is one of my weaker areas when it comes to IT, I just never needed to know much about about; I normally either at the server end or the desktop/equipment end, and how the data gets from A to B has always been some other person's specialization.

But like in all areas of IT that people would want to specialize in, good foundation knowledge is required, the last place I've worked in and my current one does not have a dedicated infrastructure person. We have a person whom was responsible and managed the infrastructure but they would preform other roles too and if required; we can all plug in a cable at the switch and login the switch to make changes and the day to day running but all physical data points and major projects are sub contracted out to 3rd party companies.
 
Viro said:
Hi, I'm currently 17 and have got to the point where I need to pick one thing and study it, because at the moment I have a average knowledge of technology. I would like to become a Network engineer, but at the moment I am confused on what to study. I was wondering if anyone would be able to say what they did to become a network engineer. I have looked at "Cisco" and think that may be a good starting point, but then I am unsure what networking courses to do with them. Any help would be very much appreciated! :)
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Any reason for networking and not one of the myriad of other areas of computing, say SANS or SQL or programming?

I did a CCNA way back in 2006 but found networking dull (should have remembered how dull I found it at university over a decade befor that) but a CCNA is a good start, as already said you can do it it two exams.

You'll need experience to back up qualifications if you want to get into networking as a career though, so be prepared to do your stint as the Helpdesk monkey.
 
LordSplodge said:
Thanks for the input. Astute as usual, Groen.
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:D

If you want to specialise solely in networking then you should learn cisco or a good starter book to read would be the n+ books, but i wouldn't get the cert, just watch the videos and books as the n+ gives a good intro in to networking theory. For job wise you can try land a roll doing cable deployment and hope to get some exposure to switches but if you at the bottom you will usually just be laying cable in roofs and up and down the riser's. Unless you are working for an IT company doing network deployments then a networking guy will be a comms guy, who will be responsible for everything related to comms, from firewall to switch configs. As once the switches are in place generally they only require minor changes.
 
I've done the whole thing of being a graduate and now getting a network job and CCNA blah blah.

Get a Cisco CCNA now and you will be laughing in 4 years time young lad.

In short, You should do a CCNA, But maybe do (and achieve) a Comptia Network + certification first. Its a good lead on into a CCNA course
 
I'd try and avoid the helpdesk thing imo. You'll be trapped in it for years if you're not careful. You need to get ahead of the crowd, not join them. Try and get straight into a engineering orginisation, may be difficult as anything other than a grad.
 
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Did this myself some years ago - the CCNA is nice and broad and covers number of technologies so at this stage this is what you prob want to do. Then you prob have 3 routes into a network job - 1. direct but you have to have that CCNA and can blag your way in. 2. Get in somewhere at the bottom, chaging tapes and low level admin work across networks and machines Win/Unix and show an interest in networking and work your way up. 3. Do help desk and hope that you get enough experience to work your way up or jump ship into another company at a higher level. Be careful with the helpdesk route - you could either do low level troubleshooting which would be good or you could be juggling tickets only and answering the phone - not good

Once you are in then you'll klnow which area interests you the most.
 
Come on.. no one ever really escapes the help desk role in IT ever!!! lol

Unless you go into management and declare yourself as non technical, or in to sales (heaven forbid) everyone I know still have to pickup the phone to an end user now and again, or reply to an email from them. There is an awful lot of customer services involved in any IT jobs; and this is why I hate people (lol).

Yes, your customer base changes depending on your role; it may even be fellow 'engineers' or big corp companies, but they are still your customers. Heck; I work with one guy at the moment who doesn't understand this, and wants people to pass on messages to end users! It's just frustrating when you ask him to look into something that he's responsible for, he's like can you asked them why they want to do that? and I'm like ask them your freaking self!

I just tend to find issues get resolved a lot quicker when I speak to the end user myself, so the issue doesn't get translated or diluted to something else and end users are more willing to accept a solution when they feel that you have listen to them even if the answer is 'no', its coming straight from the horses mouth.

Hell, I knew one senior server tech who wouldn't speak to anyone else but me :confused:

IMHO... getting helpdesk experience will make you a better tech in the long run, and some people do actually enjoy the helpdesk role.
 
Seriously as someone who did Cisco and a networking degree its dull as dishwasher. Get a practical trade. The economies picking up and you get to work outside :D
 
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