Help for a college student?

rapyoke

Hey guys, I'm currently 19 years old, and a junior at George Mason University in Virginia working towards my B.S. in Information Technology (w/ a concentration in security). I currently hold my MCP (Windows XP) and MCTS (Windows 7), and I'm about 3/4 of the way through my CCNA training material and labs at home.

For the past 2.5 years I worked with a smaller local company doing residential computer repair, it was pretty much what you'd expect (malware, wireless network setup, bad hardware etc.). I just got a pretty high-paying internship (at least for a college student, it's obviously nowhere near what some of you guys are making ) for a local I.T. solutions company. I'm very excited about because it will allow me to get hands-on experience with Cisco and 2008 R2 in a business environment, rather than just the house-calls I was doing before. I would eventually like to get into security, as that's what my degree will specialize in and I realized how much I loved doing it when I started studying for the CCNA exam- running through the material and labs is actually a lot of fun for me.

Do you guys have any advice on anything else I can do to make myself more attractive to employees? I was thinking of studying for and possibly taking the CCNP once I get the CCNA, but I don't want to be an IT guy on paper with no real usefulness in the workplace. My ultimate goal is just to make a smooth transition into the workforce.

Thank you to anybody who responds

Essendon

The best thing you can do at your age is enjoy your life. But that doesnt mean you squander all your money on chicks and booze. Time's on your side!

Seriously though, do well at the internship. Get your CCNA, finish your BS, start on your CCNP and find yourself a networking role that'll allow you to grow. The CCNP exams are not easy. It will only make sense to have some solid experience under your belt and then start tackling the CCNP.

Good luck though, I'm sure you'll be fine.

Akaricloud

Sounds like you're doing very well so far.

I'd just suggest that you try to make as many contacts as possible and keep in touch with them. Your internship will be a great start and I doubt you'll have any issues transitioning into the workforce when you're done.

It always amazes me what knowing the right people can do for you. I recently got a part time job offer from an IT manager that I'm friends with that is really the opportunity of a lifetime.

networker050184

Sounds like you are on the track to success to me. Keep at it and you will have experience, certification, degree and some industry contacts. Doesn't get much better than that.

gosh1976

Essendon wrote: »

The best thing you can do at your age is enjoy your life. But that doesnt mean you squander all your money on chicks and booze. Time's on your side!

I immediately thought of the George Best quote when I read this: "I spent 90% of my money on women, drink and fast cars. The rest I wasted."

N2IT

rapyoke wrote: »

Hey guys, I'm currently 19 years old, and a junior at George Mason University in Virginia working towards my B.S. in Information Technology (w/ a concentration in security). I currently hold my MCP (Windows XP) and MCTS (Windows 7), and I'm about 3/4 of the way through my CCNA training material and labs at home.

For the past 2.5 years I worked with a smaller local company doing residential computer repair, it was pretty much what you'd expect (malware, wireless network setup, bad hardware etc.). I just got a pretty high-paying internship (at least for a college student, it's obviously nowhere near what some of you guys are making ) for a local I.T. solutions company. I'm very excited about because it will allow me to get hands-on experience with Cisco and 2008 R2 in a business environment, rather than just the house-calls I was doing before. I would eventually like to get into security, as that's what my degree will specialize in and I realized how much I loved doing it when I started studying for the CCNA exam- running through the material and labs is actually a lot of fun for me.

Do you guys have any advice on anything else I can do to make myself more attractive to employees? I was thinking of studying for and possibly taking the CCNP once I get the CCNA, but I don't want to be an IT guy on paper with no real usefulness in the workplace. My ultimate goal is just to make a smooth transition into the workforce.

Thank you to anybody who responds

Your path looks solid too me. Just keep on

whatthehell

Date as many women as possible (being safe though too!), go out as much as possible and stay up way late (before you get into your 30s, where staying up past 2 am requires a 3 day recovery period, lol), and keep your studies up!

Good luck!

Heero

Getting the CCNP will do you nothing but good things. You can only gain real world experience so fast, and since you have a good internship you are gaining said experience about as fast as you realistically can, so pushing yourself on the other side (education) is helpful.

Most of the time when people here give advice about not having paper certs, it is given to people who are currently unemployed and are looking to get CCNP or something similar before they even get a job. For someone like that, getting a relevant job would be much more important.