Current Events > Anyone interested in learning network administration / engineering?

(+) Yeah! (+)

This has turned out to be a great career for me. My entire IT career has been pretty recession proof, especially once I started moving into network engineering.

My relevant career path:

February 2007: ISP Tech Support

• Promoted to Level 1 tier 1, level 1 tier 2, level 1 tier 3, and then level 2 within the 1st year
• I was in the running to be promoted to level 3, but the company stopped promoting people to level 3 and gave all the level 3 work to level 2s. I was pissed about this.
• Proceeded to stay at this company for way too long.

May 2011: Remote Desktop Technical Support

• I took a pay cut to get out of the ISP tech support job. I was miserable and needed to make a change.
• At this place, I was primarily doing tech support for Geek Squad over the phone through remote desktop.
• I liked this job a lot better because I could dive into almost any computer problem and fix it if I had the knowledge to do so or the ability to research and figure it out.
• This job started to go south after about the 1st year. We were contracted to do support for Geek Squad through another company and that company kept restricting what we could "charge" for, which cut revenue.

November 2012: Entry Level Network Operations Center Tech

• This was the exact job I wanted at the time. Their goal was to train me in the world of networking from the ground up.
• 6 months into this job, I got serious and started studying for Cisco certs.
• The company I was hired at was bought by a telecom company, but I continued studying for certs.
• Got my CCENT in August of 2013
• Got my CCNA Route/Switch in December of 2013
• Got my CCNA Security in June of 2014
• Got a Meraki cert in September of 2014
• Started going for CCNP Route/switch in January of 2015. I passed CCNP ROUTE.
• Company was bought out in October of 2015. The new company was a terrible company to work for.
• I started rushing through to get my CCNP cert. I passed CCNP SWITCH, then CCNP TSHOOT a couple weeks later on the 2nd try.
• Within 30 days of getting my CCNP Route/Switch cert, I had two job offers to leave.

May 2016: Network Engineer (solo network engineer at a retail company)

• This job was another perfect move for me at the time. It was my first time being a network engineer by myself. It gave me the chance to apply what I had learned from my studies in the real world and be 100% hands on.
• The company had 2 buildings at the time and I was responsible for all aspects of network administration and engineering. I was also responsible for random things I call "network-adjacent." If there is a random device that needs network connectivity, I was responsible for managing the device. Loading dock call box connects to the network, so I'm responsible for managing it. Time clocks connect to the network, so I worked with the vendor to get those set up. Multiple people in multiple buildings wanted SONOS music players set up to play music with multiple speakers in certain areas and I was responsible for that.
• Being on call 24/7 sucks when the company grows at such a rapid pace.
• This company started to grow extremely quickly in the following couple years and the job became unmanageable without working 60 - 80 hours/week. This was one of my reasons for leaving.

January 2020: Network Engineer (part of a network engineering team at a much larger company)

• This is where I work now and it's freaking great so far. I'm part of a team of 15 network engineers and my job is way more focused. I only do network engineering/administration now. There is a whole team of people who do on-site work, cabling, rack & stack, physical equipment replacement. There is a whole team of people who manage firewall security rules. There is a whole team of people who manage ISP contracts. There is a whole team of people who manage ISP service installations.
• I'm now about 6.5 months into this job and I have my quality of life back. I don't work more than ~45 hours per week ever.
• I'm also only on call one week out of every 4 or 5 weeks. They're also bringing more people onto the network team so the on-call rotation will be even bigger soon.

I've now got some updated study materials for the current Cisco exams that I can share with you if you're interested. Anyone I've already shared the study materials with from the last time I made this topic will already have access to those new videos.

If you decide to get serious and actually do it, feel free to ask me questions along the way. Or if you're unsure and just wanting to check it out, feel free to ask me questions. I'll do my best to answer as quickly as possible.

---

I just paid for my CompTIAA Networking + and Security +. Studying up to take the test.

I've worked IT on and off for about a decade.

I plan on getting more certifications since I'm finding that employers care more about accolades than true experience (up front at least).

---

I need to get some database certs, mostly just to have a paper stating I can do the things I'm already doing.

Questionmarktarius posted...

I need to get some database certs, mostly just to have a paper stating I can do the things I'm already doing.

Yeah, from what I've seen, just having the certifications helps you get in the door for interviews.

You've still gotta prove you can do the job and you'll typically go through a technical interview so they can get an idea of where you skillset actually is, but... Having the certs definitely helps.

---

I'm pursing SQL and DB certs now. It's 100x easier than anything else in IT and it pays nearly just as much.

---

Veggeta X posted...

It's 100x easier than anything else in IT

if your brain more or less functions in venn diagrams, sure.

Well, MSSQL Studio is hella easy to work around.

---

bump

---

Yes

---

Man Cable you sure love thumping your chest
---

voldothegr8 posted...

Man Cable you sure love thumping your chest

So? The man has worked his ass off and earned those accolades. Let him drag his nuts a bit.

---

voldothegr8 posted...

Man Cable you sure love thumping your chest

Ugh I wish he was doing this 10 years ago

Ive been watching professor messers IT videos but not sure how much direction I need

I'm actually curious about making the switch to this line of work. Any tips on how to start out with a degree in engineering and background of laboratory science? I've never done any sort of IT work in my career.

---

Like a lot of people just tell me 'oh get yr comptia certs and ull get 80k easy'

But I feel like there's some steps missing

Also coming from a sales background so I'm "good with people"

voldothegr8 posted...

Man Cable you sure love thumping your chest

Uhh, what? I'm not doing this for me. A lot of people are losing their jobs because of this pandemic and networking, IMO, is a great way to go if you have the aptitude for it.

---

NinjaWarrior455 posted...

I'm actually curious about making the switch to this line of work. Any tips on how to start out with a degree in engineering and background of laboratory science? I've never done any sort of IT work in my career.

I dropped out of college after my 1st year. What I would do is check out the training videos to see if you even have an interest in the subject matter. To me, networking is very fascinating. Understanding how devices communicate on a network, how network devices communicate and move traffic from point A to point B, understanding how to work with said network devices, etc.

If you see the stuff and it bores you, I wouldn't recommend going into this line of work. But if you see it and you feel like you're interested, you want to know more and keep going, then I'd say go for it.

I would say that most people would be bored to tears by this stuff, but I'm fascinated by it.

---

Lanzol posted...

Like a lot of people just tell me 'oh get yr comptia certs and ull get 80k easy'

But I feel like there's some steps missing

Also coming from a sales background so I'm "good with people"

Easy isn't the word I would use for it. I feel like none of the work involved with network administration/engineering is hard, but it's very complex. There is a lot of information you need to understand in order to begin and continue working with the technology, but once you have it internalized, you can go pretty far. There are definitely frustrations that go with it. Dealing with ISPs is often going to be a pain in the ass. There will be critical bugs in the network equipment you manage that will need to be dealt with. There will be stressful times when you break something, possibly causing a whole company's operations to come to a halt.

But overall, it's worth it.

---

Godnorgosh posted...

My man Cable speaks the truth. There are opportunities in this field. I took his advice, got some experience and some certs and went from making jack shit to 70k+.

I'm so happy for you, man. That was pretty much my experience. I was bouncing around from job to job to job without any real upward movement or any tangible skills to show for it. Finally started doing something with my life because I got these certs.

---

If helping other people get started in the field and explaining my experiences is considered "pounding my chest," then I won't apologize for that.

Please point out an actual problem with what I'm doing or kindly exit the topic.

---

Why does my office's Internet access die when one person hogs the bandwidth downloading a large file

I believe I messaged with you on this back during the lockdown.

I should really recommit to learning this shit. It seems cool and since being back at work I realize how fed up with my current field I am

---

Rexdragon125 posted...

Why does my office's Internet access die when one person hogs the bandwidth downloading a large file

That most likely means your office doesn't have enough bandwidth for its internet connection. If they have a 50 Mbps connection and someone downloads a large file, it's most likely going to hog up that whole 50 Mbps, which means a lot of traffic is going to get dropped at the "choke point."

A lot of companies don't properly size their internet service for what they need either out of not knowing how much they need or the desire to pay as little as possible for the service.

---

how hard is it?

---

CableZL posted...

That most likely means your office doesn't have enough bandwidth for its internet connection. If they have a 50 Mbps connection and someone downloads a large file, it's most likely going to hog up that whole 50 Mbps, which means a lot of traffic is going to get dropped at the "choke point."

A lot of companies don't properly size their internet service for what they need either out of not knowing how much they need or the desire to pay as little as possible for the service.

Thanks, I thought it was something like that. We already have fiber Internet, I forget how fast it's supposed to be. Wonder if there's a way to like limit people's Internet bandwidth so one person can't hog all of it.

solosnake posted...

how hard is it?

It's very complex, but not hard. There is a lot of information to internalize, but once you get it, then you got it. There will always be new things to learn because of advances in technology, but it all falls back to the foundational concepts at the end of the day.

---

solosnake posted...

how hard is it?

my take is that the tech work is pretty easy. the hard part is everything outside of the technical stuff. change controls, being able to explain what your doing to non tech folks, working with vendors etc...thats all learned on the job and it can be difficult depending on how organized the company is.


---

Can you cert online or did you have to do in class courses?

Poop2 posted...

Can you cert online or did you have to do in class courses?

You can do all the study materials online at home or by getting the book and reading at home. To get certified with Cisco, you have to go to a testing center that's certified to proctor exams for PearsonVue. You essentially go into the office, have your fingerprint and picture taken, put your belongings in a secured area, then go into the room with the computers to take the exam.

---

I'm a little more than halfway through an IT degree, but not really sure how many doors it will open. Has most of your knowledge come from jobs or outside learning?

---

beware to ppl who are stocking up on certs with no experience, can actually end up looking negative. find a balance between certs and experience

---

ChocoboMog123 posted...

I'm a little more than halfway through an IT degree, but not really sure how many doors it will open. Has most of your knowledge come from jobs or outside learning?

Most of the theoretical knowledge came from outside learning, but there's definitely knowledge I have from experience that you wouldn't get just from studying Cisco stuff.

---

Romulox28 posted...

beware to ppl who are stocking up on certs with no experience, can actually end up looking negative. find a balance between certs and experience

Yeah, the certs themselves are essentially trophies. The knowledge you gain from earnestly studying for them is the important piece. You gotta be able to demonstrate what you learn IRL.

---

CableZL posted...

You can do all the study materials online at home or by getting the book and reading at home. To get certified with Cisco, you have to go to a testing center that's certified to proctor exams for PearsonVue. You essentially go into the office, have your fingerprint and picture taken, put your belongings in a secured area, then go into the room with the computers to take the exam.

i bought a free course from stacksocial that was pretty easy but it was basic network stuff I already know.

what online course would you recommend?

Poop2 posted...

i bought a free course from stacksocial that was pretty easy but it was basic network stuff I already know.

what online course would you recommend?

I used CBT Nuggets in combination with the Cisco Press books.

---

I priced a study guide book at Microcenter today. $50.

Would you recommend these study guides for any certification?

---

Wii_Shaker posted...

I priced a study guide book at Microcenter today. $50.

Would you recommend these study guides for any certification?

Which one is it?

I only have experience with the Cisco Press books, so I'm not sure I'm a good person to ask to compare different ones.

---

CableZL posted...

Which one is it?

I only have experience with the Cisco Press books, so I'm not sure I'm a good person to ask to compare different ones.

It's the CompTIAA study guide for the Security + cert.

---

Wii_Shaker posted...

It's the CompTIAA study guide for the Security + cert.

Ah, ok. Security+ covers a bit of networking, but security is a whole discipline in and of itself. I don't have a security+ cert.

---

CableZL posted...

Ah, ok. Security+ covers a bit of networking, but security is a whole discipline in and of itself. I don't have a security+ cert.

I see. Gotcha.

I'm looking into moving into cyber security in the future. I already paid for the Security+ test but haven't even began studying yet and was weighing my options.

---

Veggeta X posted...

I'm pursing SQL and DB certs now. It's 100x easier than anything else in IT and it pays nearly just as much.

What do you think the certs will get you?

Which certs/ how much are they worth?

Sql and db is one of the few things I enjoy, so I wouldnt mind taking it seriously
---

bump

---

CableZL posted...

I used CBT Nuggets in combination with the Cisco Press books.

ill check those out. thanks