Want Networking career

Hello I just completed my CCNP: Routing & Switching last week, it took me a month to get. I have 6 month experience as a network technician but the company got bought out. I have 5 years experience with linux/data-center work. I really want to get into back into networking now and maybe go back to college.

I have some people calling but I have a bleak outlook they all seem to want more than a CCNP (they all say "cool CCNP so when are you getting your CCIE"...like CCNP is a cakewalk) & 4 years of networking experience and they want me to know just about everything. I'm starting to learn juniper but starting to believe I might have to go back to data-center work which pays a lot less and not what I want to do with my career.

I really need a guide on how to get into networking, If someone is willing to teach me networking I would be willing to relocate. I live a couple miles from Washington D.C., normally I would figure this would be perfect place but everywhere wants a top secret and not willing to start TS process. Besides I'm not sure I want a TS job.

Please help I am very positive now but I want to stay that way, I know after a month I will probably be depressed, so I want to start down the right path.

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Iristheangel

I don't know if you'll like this or not but this is how I would have cleaned it up: https://app.box.com/s/mtesyhzujzl3k1h0rrt8uxqgx4ygiceh

Feel free to add some details like your non-CCNP certifications.

I would also draft up a decent cover letter laying it out:

Dear Mr Hiring Manager,

I'm writing in response to the posting for Network Technician on (wherever). I am an entry-level network professional with multiple certifications who is familiar with network configuration, troubleshooting, and support. My training and skills in networking, as well as my ability to learn quickly and apply knowledge effectively, would enable me to play a valuable role in expanding your business.

I would bring to any position excellent communication skills, a great work ethic, and a commitment to customer service and satisfaction. My knowledge of networks and systems, together with my ability to work independently and efficiently, make me a perfect choice for an entry-level network technician. I am considered a "go-getter" by my peers who persistently follows up until a problem is fully resolved.

I would like to schedule an interview in the next couple of days to further discuss how my skillset could meet your company's needs.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Lookingfornetworkingjob

anhtran35

Incredible improvement IRIS.

pevangel

We have an opening for Tier 1 NOC but it's near Baltimore, and we do a handful of interviews which can be expensive with gas since you're in Virginia. But it's a great place to work if you can make it through the hiring process. There's tons of growth opportunities and you get to work with all kinds of technology since we're an ISP, MSP, and CSP. PM me if you're interested.

RouteMyPacket

Major Major Major and Major props to Iris...she is helping you out a ton. As mentioned, your technical interview didn't go well but Iris has given you pretty much everything you need to forge on and land an entry role and from there it's up to you to study/learn/apply the knowledge. Good luck!

AwesomeGarrett

WOW! It's almost like you're a real network engineer with that resume. I'd want to bring you in for interview ASAP.

Awesome work Iris and I don't just throw that word around.

Nafe92014

you know, I can really learn alot from you people. Kudos to Iris on her information. Now if only we had more NOC positions up here in Canada.

Rocket-sG

My favorite part of the resume is:

Cut and crimped over 5,000 Cat5 and Cat6E Ethernet cables.

Boy, your hands must have been sore after that.

Legacy User

Wow Iris, Great work! kudos to you for helping him out! That resume is a night a day difference. All he has to do is really brush up on the tech and wow them in interviews.

@Rocket I would've quit after the first 50 cables lol..but I'm sure it was meant over time.

lookingfornetworkjob

@Rocket-sG, yes there were times my hands were sore at the start but after the first week it didn't hurt. You get so fast you forget your doing it, $5 bucks says I can do it faster than anyone. It was a great company until Amazon got really big and squeezing them almost out of business. I kinda wish I had stayed because of job security BUT they were very big on only teaching you enough so you cannot climb the ladder & learning on your own was a frowned upon unless you were in the NOC & I was on the hardware side (very small hardware team who were very fearful for there jobs). I didn't quit because I met a genius there who taught me secretly Cisco & Linux off the clock, yes secretly when they found out my boss was very angry and lectured me for an hour. Honestly I enjoyed the work there but I had big dreams, still do & the pay was not able to support me.
@Pevangel Let me try to change my browser but firefox doesn't seem to allow PM or at least I don't see this opinion. I am very interested.
@Iristheangel thanks again I have updated my resume with this format. I am going to have some personal friends see if they would alter or improve but yes I agree it is a night & day difference.

The only thing I am worried about is (ASA & NIX-OS) these I do not know, I have used played around with them, I entered enough commands there but I wouldn't be able to answer technical questions about these & I would be a dead duck in a interview! Leave these on two details on? I really really want to learn ASA & NIX-OS. I can learn ASA with GNS3 (I have an old ASA but not getting any output from it but the lights are on) but I don't know how to emulate Nexus.

Yes that first job they promised me the world, working with linux/Microsoft and it turned out to be a glorified mule job so I left, they just needed to remove two data-centers and you were not allowed to console into the servers. I only left it because I managed a medium sized team which I never did before.

@Pevangel I found where PM are...it says I do not have enough access to PM??? I'm assuming because I just made the account. I will pm you as soon as I can.

Iristheangel

Did I include NX-OS on there? My bad. Take it off if you don't know it. I spent all of 10 minutes typing that thing up so it probably has a couple little typos. You did mention on your old resume that you worked with ASAs - That's why I included that. If you don't feel comfortable using it, definitely take it off

Mutata

@Iris

If it hasn't been said enough in this thread, good on you for helping someone out.

@Nafe

Manitoba. I'd imagine it would be a rough time out there for IT

@lookingfornetworkjob

I don't have a whole lot to contribute in terms of Networking advice. However; you'll find many of the successful people here stressing certifications as validation of already acquired skills. You most certainly can get to a point where the certifications represent more than you've experienced in a professional environment. There's nothing wrong with learning.

rolando3321

Iris, thanks for posting follow ups to this. Your words and advice were of great help to me as well. Not to derail the thread but as a recent college grad with a BS in Technology Management and a few certifications. I feel that my experience doesn't quite live up to what I have on paper. It doesn't mean I can't learn and I happen to be good at that. It is just hard to translate that in a resume or a interview.

Rocket-sG

Major congratulations to Iris for the excellent clean up of the resume.

It makes my resume look like a homeless beggar's cardboard sign in comparison.

Hondabuff

Oh Man! This thread could be a reality TV "Techexams edition" make over show.

E Double U

An angel indeed. You are the man Iris!

fredrikjj

AwesomeGarrett wrote: »

WOW! It's almost like you're a real network engineer with that resume. I'd want to bring you in for interview ASAP.

Awesome work Iris and I don't just throw that word around.

pevangel wrote: »

We have an opening for Tier 1 NOC but it's near Baltimore, and we do a handful of interviews which can be expensive with gas since you're in Virginia. But it's a great place to work if you can make it through the hiring process. There's tons of growth opportunities and you get to work with all kinds of technology since we're an ISP, MSP, and CSP. PM me if you're interested.

You want to bring someone in for an interview that (probably) cheated to get a CCNP in a month and then failed a technical interview? Why, because he now suddenly has a more glossy resume (that someone else wrote)? To me this thread is just another example of how useless resumes are. Maybe I'm missing something here, but to me it just seems like people are letting the fact that a respected forum member got involved cloud their judgment.

Iristheangel

I get what you're saying, Fredrikjj, and I would totally agree with you if the guy was a completely unrepentant dumper. I spoke to him with a couple other forum members on the line and the guy seemed to realize where he messed up and the reality of the situation. People make mistakes and sometimes they don't know any better or sometimes they just don't care. In this case, I think the guy just didn't know better and he's willing to take the CCNP off his resume and apply for something more his level (i.e. entry-level NOC - which is what pevangel was mentioning). The advice I and others gave him on the phone was this: Don't rely on your certs unless you have the skill to back it up, hit the books for the CCNP-level stuff to really immerse yourself in it, and the way to a job at his level is to emphasis on his willingness to learn and ability to adapt. If he course corrects, awesome. I'm always about people improving themselves and even when people mess up, I don't think one mistake should forever taint their career if they seek to fix it.

networker050184

Resumes are what get you calls. I think the fact that his was turned around into something people would be interested in shows just how useful a well written resume is.

As far as cheating, just drop it. Not the place for a witch hunt.

ande0255

I haven't logged on here all weekend since the brief technical interview, and here you have done everything but given him a job offer Iris - if I ever find myself out on my ass I know who I am emailing haha

Chitownjedi

Iristheangel wrote: »

I get what you're saying, Fredrikjj, and I would totally agree with you if the guy was a completely unrepentant dumper. I spoke to him with a couple other forum members on the line and the guy seemed to realize where he messed up and the reality of the situation. People make mistakes and sometimes they don't know any better or sometimes they just don't care. In this case, I think the guy just didn't know better and he's willing to take the CCNP off his resume and apply for something more his level (i.e. entry-level NOC - which is what pevangel was mentioning). The advice I and others gave him on the phone was this: Don't rely on your certs unless you have the skill to back it up, hit the books for the CCNP-level stuff to really immerse yourself in it, and the way to a job at his level is to emphasis on his willingness to learn and ability to adapt. If he course corrects, awesome. I'm always about people improving themselves and even when people mess up, I don't think one mistake should forever taint their career if they seek to fix it.

Refreshing to see an enlightened approach. Hope Fredrikjj takes full advantage of the guidance and passes it on... Karma is helluva thing.

fredrikjj

Iristheangel wrote: »

...

networker050184 wrote: »

...

I agree with you both. My idealistic tendencies make it hard for me to rationally discuss topics such as this one. When I say that resumes are useless, what I really mean is that I want resumes to be useless, not that they actually are.

Hondabuff

I'm still stuck on the 1 month for CCNP. That's crazy!! Even if you are dumping there would be so much to memorize in 30 days. It took my dumb azz 30 days just to study for Tshoot..

Zartanasaurus

Hey Iris, if the CCIE thing doesn't work out you can always get a job writing resumes. Great work there.

Iristheangel

I blame my mother. She had me writing resumes when I was 18 and applying for pizza delivery jobs :P

lookingfornetworkjob

Well I put out the resumes and improved the resume a bit. Lets see if there are any takers.

RouteMyPacket

lookingfornetworkjob wrote: »

Well I put out the resumes and improved the resume a bit. Lets see if there are any takers.

Nice, let us know how it goes.

pevangel

fredrikjj wrote: »

You want to bring someone in for an interview that (probably) cheated to get a CCNP in a month and then failed a technical interview? Why, because he now suddenly has a more glossy resume (that someone else wrote)? To me this thread is just another example of how useless resumes are. Maybe I'm missing something here, but to me it just seems like people are letting the fact that a respected forum member got involved cloud their judgment.

For me, it has nothing to do with the resume that Iris wrote. I actually didn't look at the resume until just now, and I'd probably make a few more changes before I would pass it off to HR. It has more to do with him seeking help, his interest in networking, and Iris's feedback after their technical interview. I don't like that he dumped but it sounds like he knows that he has made mistakes and that he still has a lot to learn.

I do agree with you about resumes being useless. They are useful for getting the interview, but useless for getting the job. I've learned that what's on paper is not a good representation of who the person is and their technical ability. We've had "senior" engineers with years of experience and high level certs fail miserably on our technical interviews. Then, we had someone who just got out of high school do extremely well.

lookingfornetworkjob

I'm not sure what to tell you guys, the Cisco tests are designed to trick you in the questions. You pay a lot of money to designed to trick you in the wording of the questions. That is not my opinion but the majority of the Cisco exam test takers, I have read in forums and talked to in real life. I ran out of time the first test not because I didn't understand the technology but because it was written in a manner so that the pass rate is low......combined with fear/adrenaline & paid $150 each attempt. I am a horrible test taker but a great troubleshoot/problem solver, that is why the labs were easy in the certs.

No one offered me a entry level networking job so that it helped for the test. Hell I would have even done intern networking in order to place in this career field. Then when I got my CCNA, one job placed me in the job with a VERY difficult technical interview about networks. My boss said no one could even pass more than 2 questions but I only didn't know the debug question, because I only saw this in the CBT nugget videos and only sorta played with it. This job was a temporary job that was going to end in 6 months because the company got purchased and absorbed. I am still talking to that company when they can hire me, they want to but cannot afford to do so, he is a good friend of mine.

So I put out my resume everywhere whenever there was no work at the job and when I was off the clock. I went to many interviews and every time they said so what you have a CCNA, everyone has a CCNA in this area code. Whenever I went into these interviews they would say so how well do you know ASA or juniper or Nexus or VoIP or VoIP with another brand....and they advertised the job as needing only a CCNA. I was promised that this CCNA knowledge was going to open doors for me. It opened one temporary door. I know it will open a door later but this is why I got my CCNP for the things I would learn while reading CCNP books.

If you think that reading 3 books and understanding the technology and the commands is a bad thing then I guess I am just a bad person. Yes maybe I cannot tell you what TNC is on the fly but in my mind I understand what is happening in the network...there is a big difference when you are in a industry and working with it everyday and able to explain things extremely fast on the fly vocally because I have not worked with networking in a job for 3 months I think, than to understand the technology in order to troubleshoot a network and fix the problem & I have done this many times at the hospital where I was working.

I am putting out applications but I see more Microsoft jobs out there than Networking, so I think I will put my applications out but I think my better option is to get a MCSA and hope that this will one day open a networking door if I prove myself. I am tired of putting my applications out and sitting on my behind. I want experience even if I was not being paid. I am sure a door will open soon but not as soon as I want with the economy the way it is.

Does anyone think that a MCSA would be a good idea for me? I see many microsoft jobs out there. I know this from experience the job likes you and sees that you can learn, they will let you in the open positions when it becomes available. I am just curious if the networking field is over saturated and too many competitors?

By the way I am not doubt this resume won't help....I know it will

Just want to have my dreams start becoming a reality even if I have to start from the bottom. I will never give up.

Hondabuff

Networking is a tough gig to get into. A lot of the Admins/Engineers you run into have a god complex and always think their way is the best way of doing things. I have gone on some interviews when I was a fresh CCNA and had the HR person loved that I had the cert and then I would have the Engineer interview me and would attempt to beat you down with their superior knowledge. I had one interview for a SysAdmin job where I would have been brought in to clean up their AD structure which was a mess. I had a buddy who worked their who recommended me and kept telling me how bad it was. I interviewed with the director of IT and he loved me but when I got to the technical interview I butted heads with the current Sysadmin that I would replace. I actually stopped the interview because we were arguing about what was more important for Group Policies, User or Machine. Ended up turning down the job even though the director was still willing to bring me on. To get to a Sysadmin or Engineer position you are going to take your lumps as you learn how to mange devices and work with people. Obtaining a CCNA or CCNP proves you have the ability to learn the concepts but doesn't mean you can jump right into a production environment. Without actual seat time in a production environment, you will expose yourself very quickly. Just be humble and work hard and you will slowly work your way up the ladder. Everyone makes mistakes but experience will teach you how not to get your self into a unrecoverable situation. Some old Pilot wisdom there but it still applies. Start at the bottom and work your way up, there are no shortcuts.

pevangel

lookingfornetworkjob wrote: »

I'm not sure what to tell you guys, the Cisco tests are designed to trick you in the questions. You pay a lot of money to designed to trick you in the wording of the questions. That is not my opinion but the majority of the Cisco exam test takers, I have read in forums and talked to in real life. I ran out of time the first test not because I didn't understand the technology but because it was written in a manner so that the pass rate is low......combined with fear/adrenaline & paid $150 each attempt. I am a horrible test taker but a great troubleshoot/problem solver, that is why the labs were easy in the certs.

Lose the victim mentality. You failed the test because you weren't prepared not because of how the test is written. You're doing yourself a disservice by not taking responsibility for everything that doesn't go so well in your life.