Career Advice

josephcoleman913

Hey guys, been on this board for a bit seems like a great wealth of info on here, so I'm hoping for some advice. I currently work for a smaller telecom my job title is Tier IV customer facing noc tech. My job is 50% working with techs in the field installing or repairing cable, internet, or phone (mainly voip). I assist them by provisioning things, changing sip passwords, configuring routers, building cross connects on ONT's, provisioning modems, occasionally tel netting into a modem etc. This part I don't mind so much. The other part of my job is working with residential customers, when the lower tiers can't figure it out. I rnf up getting a pissed off customer, for instance that took them 2 days to figure out that they have slow speeds because they have an old docsis 2.0 modem that just needs to be swapped out. I absolutely hate this part of my job, I don't like dealing with pissed off customers I'm not bad at it I just don't enjoy it, I've been working in this field for about 4 years and worked my way up to where I am, and hoped I could be passed it. The other thing I hate about my job is the hours I work tue-sat 1-10pm and getting any time off around here is like pulling teeth.

The things I like about my job are the people I work with they all have a great sense of humor(nerds like me), we can vent to each other when we have a bad call, we make each other laugh, and my boss leaves around 5 so he doesn't bother me too much, and lastly the thing that made me take the job is the pay I make about 50k a year and live in Kansas City where 50k can go a pretty long way. Like I stated early I have no degree, no certs, but I speak well and have a good amount of experience. I really enjoy solving problems, I like being able to log into a device configure it and get it working, it gives me a lot of pride. I think about becoming a sys admin, most of them I've met seem to make good money, have typically mon-fri 8-5 type hours, and seem to enjoy their job. What would you guys suggest I do or pursue based on what I've told you?

*I have about 60 college credits and just got accepted to WGU in the IT program based on my resume they waived the cert/associates and I did well on their test, so I will soon be taking classes.*

BlackBeret

It sounds like you're primed for networking. As much as I despise certs they're almost a requirement now days. Check out Net+ or the CCNA route. You should be great in that realm. You can eventually move over to Sys admin role after working in a corporate type of environment rather than just a NOC.

josephcoleman913

BlackBeret wrote: »

It sounds like you're primed for networking. As much as I despise certs they're almost a requirement now days. Check out Net+ or the CCNA route. You should be great in that realm. You can eventually move over to Sys admin role after working in a corporate type of environment rather than just a NOC.

Thanks for the advice. I've definitely considered networking the job appeals to me, but my main complaint is most of those guys seem to work the same hours I do or are constantly on call. I forgot to mention in my post, I have a wife and 2 young kids under 3, so the work schedule is becoming very important to me. I used to enjoy working nights, since I'm not very social and like to sleep in late; but now I really miss my kids, wife, and the few friends i have left.

UnixGuy

like others said, work on certification but my advice is: don't wait until you're certified, polish your CV now and start applying now. You never know!

josephcoleman913

UnixGuy wrote: »

like others said, work on certification but my advice is: don't wait until you're certified, polish your CV now and start applying now. You never know!

I'll get on that soon, I'm closing on a house in the next 30 days so I don't want any changes but your right I should be looking around.

josephcoleman913

Any suggestions on studying for the CCNA?