Here is a simple question with a simple answer, although probably not the answer I’d want to hear if I was paying for college classes.
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 18:12:53 -0700
From: [name] <@cocc.edu>
To: <info@yellowknifewireless.com>Hi my name is [name] and I am a current student at Central Oregon Community College with some career based questions about Computer Networking. The first question I have is what type of education does one need to have a successful career in computer networking? My second question is what is a typical day like in the field of computer networking? This leads me to my last question which is what type of stress does one have to endure in the computer networking line of work? So with that being said if you could email me back at [email] with your answers to those questions I would be very appreciative.
Thank you for your time
[name]
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 18:36:50 -0700
From: Chris Cappuccio <chris@ykwc.com>
To: [name] <@cocc.edu>Hi [name],
The technology is changing rapidly, as always. There is not any particular education that guarantees success. CCNA classes like those offered at COCC are typically 2 to 4 years (or sometimes more!) behind the actual technology and deployment techniques used in the real world. That being said, some of the core technology (like routing protocols) is stabilized and IPv6 is coming on strong, so the technology behind IPv6 is mostly stabilized now too. Lightwave switching and fiber multiplexing are also relatively simple subjects to cover although I don’t know of any classes for them.
The CCNA/CCNP/CCIE type classes are probably the best bet (along with their Juniper equivalents) if you want to get into a career that involves mainly IP routing and ethernet switching. I would take a CCNA or CCNP seriously if they walked in the door with _experience_ in the real world and not just a certificate. I would take anyone who passed the CCIE and who could talk to me with a straight face seriously. I would take someone who passed both Cisco and Juniper equivalents seriously. Areas like phone switching, network encryption/security, and wireless are much more specialized and I would say that there is no education (despite the many classes that purport to be education in these areas) that prepares someone for those careers. These areas require dedication (there is much material online that you can learn from if you dedicate yourself), experience (you have to start somewhere), and often successful contacts already on a career path inside the industry. In fact one of the best guides to learn anything in this industry is typically a successful, fixated person in the industry (much like anything else in life).
The stress for a networking career type is typically due to co-workers, end-users, customers, the people who demand proper functioning of the network. A typical day depends on what your position is, and your level of skill, knowledge and experience. It also depends on the type of company you work for. If you are answering the phones for front level end-user support, and you work at Bend Broadband, your experience will be quite different than if you are the chief architect for St. Charles Health System.
The larger the network is and the more people you serve with it, the larger the stress will be unless you have a very well funded organization that can hide and abstract these things away from you (perhaps a health care or financial organization).
The typical day for most folks involves troubleshooting, maintaining equipment, planning upgrades, purchasing, configuring, deploying, and of course the pecularities and complexities depend heavily on the environment. In our business, being smaller and leaner than some, often all technical folks fill many different roles and this tends to add stress and complexity to the job when things aren’t handled smoothly. Proper planning and execution makes a big difference.
If you have a more specific scenario you’d like me to answer to, I’d be happy to give you some more specific answers. I’ve been directly and indirectly involved in many local businesses and their IT and networking departments, so I have some picture of what you might expect to find.
Chris
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