Job hunting in the next few months and looking for guidance...
psytek000
Member Posts: 17 ■■■□□□□□□□
Hey Everyone,
First of all thanks in advance for checking my post. Was hoping you guys could help me with a conundrum.
I am planning to job hunt in the 5 - 6 months and was wondering what would be a good use of my time to help me prepare. I am currently a network engineer and have been for the last 3.5 years. i have 3 CCNAs: R&S, security, and data center. I predominantly deal with a LAN environment, a degree of network security, and maintain some simple WAN connections. I do some BASH scripting mainly for network management and monitoring. Prior to this current job I worked about 10 years in the IT field all of it as desktop support. Lastly, I have a bachelor's degree in Computer engineering.
I would like to stay in the networking field and would like to branch out of LANs and more into the WAN environment.
I was thinking about the current options:
- Go for the CCNP:Route and Switch. I want to stay in networking and this would probably be a no brainer. However, would probably consume all of the time between now and the job hunt. Not a bad thing and certainly wouldn't be a waste of time.
- Bolster programming knowledge. With the other engineers i've worked with, i've noticed that a lot of software developers don't have sound networking knowledge and network guys aren't as well versed in programming. I don't mean to offend anyone and I'm not saying that everyone out there is like this, just something i've noticed at the company i work for. I was thinking that perhaps i should spend the time bolstering my own programming knowledge. Other than some scripting, I haven't done any programming since graduating with my degree. I feel like i could catch up and strengthen my knowledge. I would like to reinforce Java/C++ knowledge and learn some python. At my company i've seen a lot love for python. To me someone with sound networking and software background is ideal.
- Go for CCDA and learn python or reinforce some other programming language. This might be a combination of the two. I would like to learn more about network design. however, while looking at this forum people recommend having the CCNP before attempting the CCDA. Some have said CCNP:Switch knowledge might be the minimum to get the most out of the CCDA curriculum. While I don't have the CCNP:Switch, switching is the bread and butter of my job and am confident in my knowledge of it. I have scanned through the CCNP:Switch exam and am confident in the topic.
I've rambled on for too long and am wondering what you guys think. Lastly i just want to add that the reason I am job hunting is to move on to bigger and better things. Not saying my current job is bad; in fact I do enjoy it, but want more. Also I would like to move to a different area. No where in particular, just would like to travel a bit while i'm young(ish). Thank you again!
First of all thanks in advance for checking my post. Was hoping you guys could help me with a conundrum.
I am planning to job hunt in the 5 - 6 months and was wondering what would be a good use of my time to help me prepare. I am currently a network engineer and have been for the last 3.5 years. i have 3 CCNAs: R&S, security, and data center. I predominantly deal with a LAN environment, a degree of network security, and maintain some simple WAN connections. I do some BASH scripting mainly for network management and monitoring. Prior to this current job I worked about 10 years in the IT field all of it as desktop support. Lastly, I have a bachelor's degree in Computer engineering.
I would like to stay in the networking field and would like to branch out of LANs and more into the WAN environment.
I was thinking about the current options:
- Go for the CCNP:Route and Switch. I want to stay in networking and this would probably be a no brainer. However, would probably consume all of the time between now and the job hunt. Not a bad thing and certainly wouldn't be a waste of time.
- Bolster programming knowledge. With the other engineers i've worked with, i've noticed that a lot of software developers don't have sound networking knowledge and network guys aren't as well versed in programming. I don't mean to offend anyone and I'm not saying that everyone out there is like this, just something i've noticed at the company i work for. I was thinking that perhaps i should spend the time bolstering my own programming knowledge. Other than some scripting, I haven't done any programming since graduating with my degree. I feel like i could catch up and strengthen my knowledge. I would like to reinforce Java/C++ knowledge and learn some python. At my company i've seen a lot love for python. To me someone with sound networking and software background is ideal.
- Go for CCDA and learn python or reinforce some other programming language. This might be a combination of the two. I would like to learn more about network design. however, while looking at this forum people recommend having the CCNP before attempting the CCDA. Some have said CCNP:Switch knowledge might be the minimum to get the most out of the CCDA curriculum. While I don't have the CCNP:Switch, switching is the bread and butter of my job and am confident in my knowledge of it. I have scanned through the CCNP:Switch exam and am confident in the topic.
I've rambled on for too long and am wondering what you guys think. Lastly i just want to add that the reason I am job hunting is to move on to bigger and better things. Not saying my current job is bad; in fact I do enjoy it, but want more. Also I would like to move to a different area. No where in particular, just would like to travel a bit while i'm young(ish). Thank you again!
Comments
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Mow
Member Posts: 445 ■■■■□□□□□□
If it were me, I would probably push towards CCNP. If you want bigger and better things in the networking field, potential employers are going to expect you to be comfortable with routing protocols, probably some security, etc. In my opinion, the programming can be done, as well, but maybe not in the 6 months or so that is your timeline. -
kohr-ah
Member Posts: 1,277
I say go for the CCNP. Get past the A levels.
CCDA will be a breeze once you pass the CCNP.
Python is worth learning but it is more a tool to make my job easier than a necessity. It is a way for me to push configurations one way while I am working on another thing at the same time.
Keep looking for jobs in the mean time.