New job dilemma - Not what I thought. Stay or move on?

ps.89

Hi TE family,

So I recently got hired for a new job half a year ago. Before this, I was working in help desk. My goal has been for me to move into the networking field. I earned my B.S in computer networking a year ago. I thought I was moving in the right direction with this new position. The job title is NOC technician. The job duty statement made me believe that I would finally get real world experience in networking. However, my new position is more on the administrative side of things. To sum things up, the sole function of my job is to alert teams of critical incidents and to get them involved to resolve these critical incidents. Then I document everything. I do monitor alerts, but that is the extent of my networking duties. I don't do any troubleshooting whatsoever or even touch network equipment. When an alert pops off, I simply escalate to the various technology groups or vendors.

I'm in a dilemma. I feel like this job isn't helping me move forward in my career to become a network administrator/network engineer. I'm not really learning any new skills, but the job itself is easy and there is a lot of down time. I want to look elsewhere to where I can find a true networking position. But at the same time, I could probably stay here and benefit from the down time and study for my CCNA.

What are your thoughts? What would you do?

paul78

It sounds like you work at a company which is probably of decent size. I personally would look at internal opportunities first before looking to leave for another company. Have you discussed your aspirations with your management?

Jon_Cisco

It's always a judgement call but I think if you are really interested in Networking you should at least start working on your CCNA. Then this job will look like a good stepping stone to something new.

I also agree with Paul78 it might have some really good opportunities if you continue your study and express interest.

DatabaseHead

I like this here :  But at the same time, I could probably stay here and benefit from the down time and study for my CCNA.  The CCNA can be a game changer.

I would give it at least 12 months.  Man starting short termed efforts this early on your resume might not end well.....

AvgITGeek

I'm in the agreement with the  others. I'd stick it out for a year or more before you move on. You have the time to get the CCNA and get experience under your belt.

ps.89

Thanks for the input, everyone! I guess I've just been so eager to start getting real networking experience...

In regards to looking at internal opportunities, I've only seen an opening for Senior Network Engineer. However, I sort of have a friendship with one of the engineers, but I'm not sure how I would go about showing ineterest. Anyone have experiences they can share on getting hired internally into a different department?

EANx

ps.89 said:

However, I sort of have a friendship with one of the engineers, but I'm not sure how I would go about showing ineterest.

On ticket X, what was the problem?

On ticket Y, I was thinking it might have been Problem #1 but since I don't get data, I couldn't see. What was it? How did you find it?

Keep doing this when you can and with the team members that seem interested in talking and when you apply, you should have people who have your back because they already know you as part of the team.