Practical Skills and Knowlege

Hi Guys,
I am about to start applying for jobs and I am a bit worried I am lacking in some areas I might not know about.
For example I have "minimal" work experience and am trying to get more but as I am currently studying for my masters and time is hard to comeby.
The real question is what should I be looking into, what are the core skills?
eg:
Experience with exchange
MS Server
Active directory
If I was to focus on 5 about things, eg:setting them up in a home lab or nagging my tutor to show me how they work what would you reccomend I do to get the most out of it?
Cheers
I am about to start applying for jobs and I am a bit worried I am lacking in some areas I might not know about.
For example I have "minimal" work experience and am trying to get more but as I am currently studying for my masters and time is hard to comeby.
The real question is what should I be looking into, what are the core skills?
eg:
Experience with exchange
MS Server
Active directory
If I was to focus on 5 about things, eg:setting them up in a home lab or nagging my tutor to show me how they work what would you reccomend I do to get the most out of it?
Cheers
Comments
If you want to go the Cisco path, then you need to focus on the how to work with Cisco devices, and the CCNA will be your starting point, and so forth.
If you want to do server support, then you better work for a vendor such as SUN or IBM or HP, and there you will get exposure to the things you need
Good luck
If you have not decided on a specific IT path yet, I'd suggest taking whatever IT job you can get and go from there. With minimal work experience, you might have a very tough time finding an IT job in the present economy, even as first-tier help desk support. After you have a couple of years work experience, you can then change to a job in a specialty that's more to your liking.
What's your Masters in?
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I should have been a bit more specific sorry.
My course also encompasses the CCNA.
The desired route for me would be that of a network engineer/admin.
Aside from the CCNA and limited practical experience I get in the labs what else can I do to improve my employability.
I have work experience lined up for 2 weeks in the Easter break, but just would like to know what Qualifications or other hands on experience I should push for, (even if its at home with a couple of old PC's)
Thanks
As for hands on, learn about all the security features on a Cisco routers (especially AAA) and see if you can help out on any firewall, VPN, IDS, and wireless security configurations. It's also very useful to know how an organization's security policies are written and implemented. Knowing how all that administrative paperwork works is also valued by employers.
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Thanks JD,
In terms of actual jobs to apply for do you think I would be looking at 1st line support or are there other entry level jobs which are more specific to networks and security?
Also I know this may sound a bit wet but what is the actual definition of a 1st line support job?
Cheers
1st line, 2nd line, 3rd line, etc. correspond to Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 support or Help Desk. 1st line is answering basic questions (e.g., "Where did my Recycle Bin go?") and providing basic assistance (e.g., resetting forgotten passwords). It's the first place people go when they have a problem, and Tier 1 people are (usually) working from scripts. If the scripts can't solve it, escalate the problem to Tier 2.
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Tier 1 sounds pretty bad (i enjoy the problem solving and want to use my brain and improve myself not just carry out simple repetitive tasks.), is there many people who enter to tier 2? Or is it generally a natural progression?
yep it can be bad, but thats usually after you've done it for a while and can answer most of the the problems in your sleep. It can also be a very interesting place to work as you do see some interesting\idiotic\mind blowing things that people do.
Most people go through helldesk at some point in their careers. The way to avoid this tend to be getting a role at a smaller firm where your expected to pretty much muck in and do anything thats thrown at you.
pro's n cons going both routes.
And as always there are exceptions to the rule.
I work in Tier 1 at a NOC facility and I can tell you my job is alot more than just creating tickets. The tech's I work with and I do everything from ticket creation to rebuilding PVC's and other WAN links on our trunks. We deal with MPLS, Frame Relay, ATM and metro-ethernet on an hourly basis. We're soley working on Layer 2, that's it. Layer 3 is another group and so is Layer 1.
It's fun. Days like today make your head hurt, but I enjoy my job!!
man i need a job like that.. that sounds AWESOME