It really is WHO you know!
Mrock4
Banned Posts: 2,359 ■■■■■■■■□□
Well, big surprise, most people know I'm active Army. Well, I've had a variety of roles since being in, from voice, to server work, to being a general network guy, to handling strictly layer 2 issues...to my current position of 2 months- basically a NOC manager. Absolutely horrible. The highlight of my day is creating some powerpoint slides and DISCUSSING circuits..nothing technical...
Well, since starting my CCIE study, I have had my books at work every day (well, night..I was on night shift for a while), and one of our gov't contractors pointed out my CCIE exam cert guide, and said our network section had a guy who was a CCIE. My ears perked up and I looked the guys e-mail up, and contacted him.
Turns out he had failed the CCIE twice, but knows his stuff, and is "the" go-to guy at his shop. We have talked over the last few weeks about the CCIE and various technical topics. Eventually, he asked why I wasn't working in the networking section. When I couldn't answer him properly, he spoke to his boss, who spoke to his boss, etc..
Fast forward to this morning, a guy I had never seen comes in and tells me I'm now working the network section. This network is ridiculously huge...I'm talking nodes in 20-25 countries, god knows how many WAN links, a very impressive LAN with all the up-to-date gear a cisco geek could wish for, etc. Not to mention, the majority of the guys who work this shop are very skilled....it all encompasses a fantastic opportunity that would have never happened had I not talked to this guy and BS'd with him about everyday life a little..
So lesson to be learned, do not underestimate networking professionally.
Oh, did I mention my hours just got shortened from 12 hour days to 8 hour? Oh, and no more weekends
Well, since starting my CCIE study, I have had my books at work every day (well, night..I was on night shift for a while), and one of our gov't contractors pointed out my CCIE exam cert guide, and said our network section had a guy who was a CCIE. My ears perked up and I looked the guys e-mail up, and contacted him.
Turns out he had failed the CCIE twice, but knows his stuff, and is "the" go-to guy at his shop. We have talked over the last few weeks about the CCIE and various technical topics. Eventually, he asked why I wasn't working in the networking section. When I couldn't answer him properly, he spoke to his boss, who spoke to his boss, etc..
Fast forward to this morning, a guy I had never seen comes in and tells me I'm now working the network section. This network is ridiculously huge...I'm talking nodes in 20-25 countries, god knows how many WAN links, a very impressive LAN with all the up-to-date gear a cisco geek could wish for, etc. Not to mention, the majority of the guys who work this shop are very skilled....it all encompasses a fantastic opportunity that would have never happened had I not talked to this guy and BS'd with him about everyday life a little..
So lesson to be learned, do not underestimate networking professionally.
Oh, did I mention my hours just got shortened from 12 hour days to 8 hour? Oh, and no more weekends
Comments
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networker050184
Mod Posts: 11,962 Mod
Congrats on the new position! Sounds like a great learning opportunity. Now just make sure you don't "study" on the live equipment
Good luck!An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made. -
cisco_trooper
Member Posts: 1,441 ■■■■□□□□□□
Hah. Congrats man. That's fantastic. You can show your wife what CCIE does for life and she'll stay off your case for a little bit, LOL. -
blargoe
Member Posts: 4,174 ■■■■■■■■■□
Great story. Thanks for sharing.IT guy since 12/00
Recent: 11/2019 - RHCSA (RHEL 7); 2/2019 - Updated VCP to 6.5 (just a few days before VMware discontinued the re-cert policy...)
Working on: RHCE/Ansible
Future: Probably continued Red Hat Immersion, Possibly VCAP Design, or maybe a completely different path. Depends on job demands... -
mikej412
Member Posts: 10,086 ■■■■■■■■■■
Congratulations!!
What about the power of a Cisco CCIE book on your desk?So lesson to be learned, do not underestimate networking professionally.
:mike: Cisco Certifications -- Collect the Entire Set! -
jamesleecoleman
Member Posts: 1,899 ■■■■■□□□□□
Congrats!!!
May I ask what your MOS is?Booya!!
WIP : | CISSP [2018] | CISA [2018] | CAPM [2018] | eCPPT [2018] | CRISC [2019] | TORFL (TRKI) B1 | Learning: | Russian | Farsi |
*****You can fail a test a bunch of times but what matters is that if you fail to give up or not***** -
cisco_trooper
Member Posts: 1,441 ■■■■□□□□□□
Congratulations!!
What about the power of a Cisco CCIE book on your desk?
+1. So true. I have a couple on my desk and I am fairly well compensated. -
mikej412
Member Posts: 10,086 ■■■■■■■■■■
TRANSLATION: 4 more hours a day to study for the CCIE!! And weekends free to practice 3rd party CCIE workbook 8 hour labs!!Oh, did I mention my hours just got shortened from 12 hour days to 8 hour? Oh, and no more weekends
:mike: Cisco Certifications -- Collect the Entire Set! -
Mrock4
Banned Posts: 2,359 ■■■■■■■■□□
TRANSLATION: 4 more hours a day to study for the CCIE!! And weekends free to practice 3rd party CCIE workbook 8 hour labs!!
You nailed it brother! I've been on a set 2 hour/day lab schedule that is rough with only 3-4 hours of free-time to see the wife and kid. This new schedule means more study time plus more time with the fam.
To the guy who asked my MOS, I'm a 25B. So far I've mostly held network tech/network engineer positions, until this place..although that is changing obviously. I've been pretty fortunate, a lot of 25B's get stuck at helpdesk's and as server admins...cool for them, not for me. If you're in the Army, you know how that goes. If you're not in the Army and want to network...go 25N. I'm literally the only 25B in Iraq (from my unit) who got to deal with networking a considerable amount.
To be honest, although I'm a little excited, I'm more anxious then anything. I feel like being put in this position is more of a 'correction' then anything. People have wondered a while why I was here, as did I. That being said, I am incredibly thankful..so thankful that I think a 6 pack is in order ..just kidding. I'm actually studying my butt off now... While having the most respected engineer speak highly of you is great..it also brings the double-sided sword which is having to PROVE that you're worth it...it shall be fun..
Anyway, thanks for all the kind wishes fellas! -
Slowhand
Mod Posts: 5,161 Mod
Sometimes it's about who you know, and sometimes it's just about speaking up. Congrats on the new job, the new opportunities, and the shorter work-day. Here's to hoping you'll be doing lots and lots of networking in the future, both Cisco and professional.
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