Network Engineer Jobs with ccnp?

Codeman6669

Hey Guys,

Im about to complete the CCNP R&S cert in a week or two here. I have been putting my resume out and got contacted from some well named companies. But no job offers.. Even told i interview very well, but i didint have the specific skills they were looking for (IE: automation, etc)

and EVERYTHING is going cloud based, idk, im not saying i regret the CCNP, but idk if its going to do anything? All network engineer jobs want automation, and various other skills.


What do i do after ccnp to help get me into the next advanced level job for my career? My current job is network troubleshooting smaller sized LANS, mostly no routing protocols. Lots of VLAN, STP, ip conflict,Various VPN's etc. tons of troubleshooting.... but im looking to make more $, ad move up in the world.


Any advice? Im thinking learn python then perhaps get a bachelors degree?

Iristheangel

Hmmm... I don't think the mass majority of networking jobs here in SoCal require you to have automation skills. Actually, the majority of folks I know in the industry don't have them and have jobs. I know folks working in networking at a lot of large companies in the area and I can tell you that the majority of them know crap about python or automation. It's a good skill to have but not typically a hard and fast requirement for a job.

An employer might have a wishlist of things they want someone to have but they wouldn't have taken an interview with you if they actually were hard set on someone who had automation skills and your resume didn't say anything of the like. Most of the time, an employer's "requirements" on job description is more like a wishlist. They hope they can get someone with 50-80% of the requirements and train up on the rest in most cases.

volfkhat

Codeman6669 wrote: »

Even told i interview very well, but i didint have the specific skills they were looking for (IE: automation, etc)

Sounds like a cop-out, imo.
Maybe it would have been more honest if they said you didnt have enough experience?

fwiw,
i wouldnt get discouraged just yet.
Almost a CCNP <> a CCNP.

See how the feedback is After you have that on your resume :]

And i don't see getting a "bachelors" as the solution.

I.T. is a trade... so you just need to get more skillz...

dontstop

Programmability and automation is hot right now. That doesn't mean everyone is doing it or even doing it correctly for those who are.

I was working as a Senior Linux Admin at a WebHosting company when the OpenStack wave hit. Within a few months we gained a whole team of Devopsy/Cloud Engineers who spent the next 12 months working on what essentially ended up being a flopped project and all of them left/got fired with very little return on the money spent. During that time, the rest of us in the real world kept chugging along BAU doing what needed to be done in the current reality.

Very few companies are agile enough/have the budget or even the use cases to full-on drop everything and start embracing new tech like full blown SDN. Most of the time SDN is just confused for configuration automation, which has been around for a very long time.

I'd keep looking for work.

P.S. Be careful as there is a very insidious trend at the moment called the "Full stack developer". It's a mythical beast fabricated by IT managers and HR, this beast can do the jobs of 5 different staff at 1/5 the price. Network Engineers will one day need to know how to do basic coding, but expecting a Network Engineer today to become a fully fledged coder is a joke. You'll find full stack developers in startups or small organizations who are too tight to pay for a full team. Steer clear of these jobs & roles.

ande0255

I would find MSP's in your area, those are experience hot beds. Mine has a position called "Network Specialist" who's job is generally to drive around to customer sites and do health checks on their servers and network equipment, but they often get called in on emergency on-site tickets when there are no higher level Network Engineers to get their ASAP.

It's like Edward Norton said about fight club, you come in a big blob of crap, and after a couple of months you are carved out of wood Just gotta be able to withstand the chaos of working at an MSP, but its tolerable as long as management treats you decently, but really will boost your skillset / experience rapidly.

Iristheangel

@Andre, I want you to hit me as hard as you can....

ande0255

Right in the ear!

hurricane1091

I am a (CCNP) network engineer, and was interviewed by a company looking for someone with SDN & python experience. I have no SDN or python experience. I got the job. Not many people have the experience they were looking for, so they are taking a chance on me I guess.

Danielh22185

Sounds to me you just need to keep applying / going on interviews. They are out there and with CCNP knowledge you can get them. Keep at it and good luck!

Codeman6669

ande0255 wrote: »

I would find MSP's in your area, those are experience hot beds. Mine has a position called "Network Specialist" who's job is generally to drive around to customer sites and do health checks on their servers and network equipment, but they often get called in on emergency on-site tickets when there are no higher level Network Engineers to get their ASAP.

It's like Edward Norton said about fight club, you come in a big blob of crap, and after a couple of months you are carved out of wood Just gotta be able to withstand the chaos of working at an MSP, but its tolerable as long as management treats you decently, but really will boost your skillset / experience rapidly.

lots of good responses here thank you everyone. ande what is MSP's short for? Link contract work? I do 1099 work for a IT company in O.C. as their network engineer. Just not np level stuff

Ive seen those jobs, high pay but only last a few moths - a year or two.