Looking at getting into Networking - CCNA Advice

[buckeye95]

All,

Wanted to ask on the forum to get some advice on a potential career change I was thinking about. I have been an engineer in the communications industry for 10+ years with both a Bachelors and Masters degree in engineering (Electrical and Industrial respectively). My job has been in limbo for quite a while now (which I know is typical in and out of my industry), so I have been looking at other options.

One that seems interesting to me is networking. I do some at work (basic router troubleshooting, etc.), but have no real background in it. Is there a way for someone like me to "break" into this industry? I know a couple people have obtained their CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) certificate, and have considered doing this as well. Has anyone gone through this training? Is it a pretty good "in" to getting into that business? I have also seen it offered in everything from a 18 month college level course to a 2 week boot-camp, the latter of which apparently gets you enough knowledge to pass the test.

Any advice anyone might have on this?

Regards,

Pete

[crokett]

What do you want to do in the industry? The CCNA is good from the standpoint of most networking equipment is Cisco and if you have the cert you probably do know your stuff, unlike a lot of certs. I work in storage networking and IMO that is where the future is. Lots of people know ethernet and IP, or at least the basics. Not a lot know SANs and all the data that gets created everyday has to be put some place, you know?

If I were hiring I would hire the guy who has been through the 18mo program before the guy who took a 2 week exam prep course. The first guy has had time to apply what he learned before he took the test. The 2nd guy just learned to regurgitate the answers.

[Kristofor]

I do make IT hiring decisions for a moderate sized organization. If the choice is a candidate that was in school for an 18 month class + cert, or another who took a 2 week class + cert +17.5 months of actual experience, I'd hire the latter every time. But, that said, I'd really rather have the guy/gal with no cert, but 5 years of demonstrated experience.

To break in with no current experience I would think one option may be to look at a very large company where they can have junior network ops positions. There you could gain the experience and work on projects with a more senior resource pool to tap if there are questions. Another option would be looking for positions in a smaller company where you could perhaps wear multiple hats and either backup the primary network analyst or support that function for a branch location again with a support network while you're coming up to speed.

[Alex Franke]

I'm in software as opposed to networking, but I've hired several people from different backgrounds who have shown a propensity for software along with the smarts and motivation to pick it up quickly. One was an EE who had always dabbled in software and picked up a certification just to prove that he actually knew his way around and wasn't just a hobbiest. He turned out to be one of my best outside-the-box problem solvers.

I think you're going to have to make a solid case for why you're switching careers, give assurance that you're decision is for the long term, and show a good understanding of what the new career is all about. The questions I usually have in mind for career-changers are "How do I know he won't change careers again after he finds out what it's really like?" "How do I know I'm not a stepping stone and he's stick with me after I get him trained?" and "What might his past experience bring to the table?"

That's my US$0.02.

[smorris]

The CCNA will get your foot in the door with a lot of companies, but like the others said experience will often beat it out. One thing to consider, getting into networking can be a good gig, it can also be a death march, depends on the company. One place I worked they ate network engineers alive, we called that side of the building Bataan.

Our network group keeps trying to hire me away from security, I wouldn't do that on a bet. I don't know what you are looking for but you might consider looking into getting a CISSP and entering the security arena. I'm an EE, my engineers have chemistry and business degrees. We look for critical thinkers who don't know what the box is.

[buckeye95]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Pete

[crokett]

I do make IT hiring decisions for a moderate sized organization. If the choice is a candidate that was in school for an 18 month class + cert, or another who took a 2 week class + cert +17.5 months of actual experience, I'd hire the latter every time. But, that said, I'd really rather have the guy/gal with no cert, but 5 years of demonstrated experience.

So would I. I was thinking it was a guy with no experience taking a 2 week course vs a guy with no experience taking an 18mo class. But then that doesn't really apply here because the OP said he has some applied networking skills. Actually I will stretch it a bit further and say I will take the guy who has 4-5 years of demonstrated troubleshooting in a related field than a two week networking cert. You can't teach troubleshooting, you are either good at it or you aren't. It helps to have technical knowledge about what you are trying to fix but there is a certain way of thinking that some folks have and some don't.

[JR]

As has been mentioned already, it's important to understand what you want to be "when you grow up".

A CCNA is excellent if you want to get into network operations. It's less interesting, but still of some value, if you want to use your EE to get into design work. There are communications specialty classes at some engineering colleges, which would be more intruiging for hiring a design engineer. If this is the direction you intend to go, it would be helpful to move to Beijing or Bangalore. I was in Beijing last week and in one business park I saw large buildings for Nortel, Alcatel-Lucent, and Cisco. Alternatively, there are still a lot of jobs in Silicon Valley in this field. Not so many in Columbus.


HTH,
JR

[JR]

I recognize my previous comments may have been less than helpful. I've spent my entire career in networking. When I started the industry was young and exciting. It is now fully mature, as the off-shore staffinhg trend will attest.

If I had your credentials I'd be more interested in alternative energy applications. The trend to "green" technologies will not abate. There will be huge numbers of design engineers and process engineers required to bring these technologies to market.

JR

[buckeye95]

JR,

I did find your comments helpful. Believe me, I am more than aware of the outsourcing that has been going on in your industry and ours and is part of the reason I am looking for a skill-set a little more "portable" in case I need to find another job. Thanks for the tip on alternative energy; I agree this should be a growing industry moving forward and is worth looking into.

Pete

[OpaDC]

My .02 on the reality of the IT industry. (caution, wordy)

First, a little of my background. Got out of service after ten years and hired on with State of FL as communications tech in '88. Most everything was mainframe still then. Worked with IBM and Racal-Milgo comm equipment. Slowly started converting to token ring then Ethernet over the years. Did wiring, server installs, and desktop installs. Over time this evolved into the network engineer for district and on the State IT committee. Hired on with Navy as network engineer until clearance gained then moved to network security section. After Navy moved to another Fed job overseas as Network Security Engineer. In the course of that position I had to completely redesign a European wide network of about 150 geographically separated locations, then implement security.
Now to the crux of this. I gave a brief of my background to show that I have quite a bit of varied experience. After my time was up overseas, instead of taking an opening just anywhere we wanted to come back here where we owned a home. In order to do this I had to resign, but I figured I wouldn't have too much trouble getting a job. I WAS WRONG.
I have no degree nor certifications. I am now 55 years old. All training was hands on and self taught as necessity dictated. What I found was, most companies appeared to want people with degrees in computer science, certifications, 10 or more years of experience and be under 30. Yea, do the math. After having apllied at more places than I can remember, after 5 years still nothing. It seems that these days the college and/or certs mean more and experience less, because younger people are usually cheaper. I had thought about getting a cert, but don't know where to spend the money, Microsoft, Cisco, security? on the CHANCE that it may help. Maybe if I lived in a bigger city things would be different. (rant off)
If you go the Cisco route, a CCNA would be a good start but I wouldn't stop there but get other certs too. If I were in your shoes I would probably go with a CCNA to get a good basic background then get a CISSP or GIAC cert. Security is not only interesting but getting bigger and bigger, and for the most part, NOT being outsourced except to US based companies with local employess.
Sorry this got so long but a sore spot for me as you can tell.