Accepted offer, big move, new role!

higherho

After 2.3 years working with my current company as a Systems Administrator I decided to leave the company and work for a bigger company (within this sector) as a Telecom Support Specialist 2. Prior my systems admin job, I've done cable work, VOIP, Ciscos call manager (migrating from an old PBX system), and working with my colleges overall network. I've done some more studies within networking & telephones since then and every-time I learned something new, I've always said to myself that: "I need to go back to that" but instead I ended up doing servers, VPN, sans, cisco networking. This time I can focus solely on what I've wanted to do, Networking, VOIP, and PBX's!

More project experience were I gather the technical requirements of bringing up a site (anywhere from 20 people to 200 people) with their telephone systems. I also have to do some basic end user support in the local region (some moves if their on an old POTS system but most are VOIP and since they roam I don't have to do that much). The best part of all this is the fact that I actually have free time at work to study for certifications or my masters degree! Not to mention the company will give me a good sum of money towards it each year!

I feel happy but at the same time I'm a little nervous / scared because I'm moving a state and a half away and the fact I'm leaving a steady position. Its great that I can work, learn, and specialize in the field I went to school for. On a side note, I wanted to say that I was able to get a sign on bonus and more money! The Offer negotiation stage took a bit longer than I expected.

I start July 16th!

cyberguypr

Congrats! Nothing better that pursuing what really moves you.

onesaint

Congrats! Awesome that you're getting back into an area of interest.

It's interesting that a good number of us seem to be moving to better pastures as of late.

maddem

Congrats and all the best with your new job!!

NOC-Ninja

congrats!

DexterPark

Nice! Good for you man, I also enjoy Networking & VoIP. Looking at getting any Cisco Certifications?

higherho

Thanks all! Techexams has been a big help / push for me in terms of motivation, skills, and ability to judge what area in IT I would appreciate.

DexterPark wrote: »

Nice! Good for you man, I also enjoy Networking & VoIP. Looking at getting any Cisco Certifications?

I want my CCNA, I need it (personal goal) no later than October / November. I honestly should be able to obtain it much sooner than that but I want to focus on the job first and foremost. I have three chapters left in my CCENT studies, so I want to take that in September. After I get the CCNA I want to get my CCNA Voice and CCNA Design.

In college I went through the whole CCNA academy and half of the CCNP academy. Went to take the full blown CCNA (640-802) right after and got a 770 (needed a 820). Since then I've gained a lot more hands-on networking experience so I feel more confident in my networking skills.

Cat5

Dam*. Where do the all people here manage to get a job where they train one in voice? It's like a mythical creature to me - heard of but never actually seen or found.

Best of luck to you!

jamesp1983

Congrats. Good luck in the new gig.

Devilry

Congrats! Good news!

higherho

Thanks all and am very excited !

Cat5 wrote: »

Dam*. Where do the all people here manage to get a job where they train one in voice? It's like a mythical creature to me - heard of but never actually seen or found.

Best of luck to you!

Thanks!

They're offering me education assistance for training (certs or a higher education). I trained myself to understand the concepts, basics, mid range information of how telephones and VOIP works. Tied in with some previous work experience. I was thrown into the fire many times over the past two and a half years and gained a lot of knowledge from various technologies because of it. During this whole interview processes they asked a lot on project design, some technical (Explaining what VOIP is, T1's, PBX's), and my character (a lot on my character) and asked if I could build a site (just like I do currently with server design / network design scoping but with phones). I even admitted that that certain technologies I might be weak in and gave them an example about how I was tasked to configure a new firewall from the ground up and implement it. I studied prior, moved the rules, understood the basic concepts, taught myself the advance concepts then implemented it. They were impressed not only by how much I was doing for one person but how quickly I was picking up things and learning on my own / after work.

Another example was today, PKI in on one of my domains and wasn't working and for the life of me I could not figure it out. I kept digging and using my basic/ mid level knowledge of IIS and through troubleshooting procedures I personally developed, I was able to figure out that the IIS boxes could not communicate with the CRL distribution points that were on the user certs.

With phones, I did forget the color code for 66 Block (been 2 years) but I understood why I needed the block and then printed out the color code and it refreshed my memory. What I'm most excited about in this position is the ability to study for certs while working (as long as I do not have projects or tickets to do) were as my current position I cannot do that.

N2IT

Awesome work!