Networking career...

Hi,

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong section, i've been wondering where to put it for the last 10 minutes .

Anywho...I've basically been into Networking for the past 3 years, love this site been visiting it for around a year and a half now. However i've always wanted to persue a Networking career, Network manager or something similar. I've got 2 general qualifications in ICT (GNVQ and AVCE), now I would like to start specialising in Networking itself, courses such as the CCNA and MCSA...I just wondered if you guys could point me in the right direction please...to become a Network manager/associate in 2 to 3 years.

Thanks in advance. Adam.

Well as you pointed out a base level CCNA certification is a very good place to start.. you could consider an MCSE as well (but that certification is pretty much useless nowadays). One of the hot certifications these days is the RHCE (Redhat Certified Engineer).. of course its Linux based, but it holds a lot of weight.

Give yourself ample practical experience where possible.. If you can get a couple of cheap routers for you to try and configure etc, then go for it. Spend as much time as possible trying to understand implementations.

Since you're interested in network management (as opposed to network design), you should have very strong fundamentals.. TCP/IP, ARP and Ethernet concepts down to the T.. application protocols HTTP, SMTP, etc.. basically you should be able to put on a sniffer and make sense of the data, optimizing traffic flows, detection congestion etc.

You'll be well setup then.

If you understand the material on this site, you'll be very well prepared for almost any technical interview you could possibly face.


Glad you like the site.. its helped lots of people out with their careers, mine included.

Thanks Sahirh, i'm pretty well sorted when it comes to packet sniffers, I understand application protocols etc...

I've only just got into Linux ( Windows Geek ) so umm...yeah I may have to get into Linux and buy myself some Routers, cheers mate really appreciated.

My pleasure. Let us know how it goes.