Is the NOC the only way to really get into Network Engineering?

In my last post I asked which markets are good for entry level networking and it seemed like everyone agreed that starting in the NOC is the best route. I don't really have a problem with this, but where I live now there aren't many SPs so I almost never see NOC positions posted. The only networking posts I see around here are full network admin/engineering jobs. There doesn't seem to be anything in between desktop support and Network Engineering. My own company has 150+ IT people and we go from desktop support right to level 2 Network Engineer. I'm wondering if anyone here has made it to network engineer and done it without going through the NOC? If so what was your path?

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Comments

Jackace

higherho wrote: »

I would start kissing some serious A@# (not literally of course haha) with the current networking team to get in! If you keep showing interest sooner or later they will let you in. the CCNA and soon CCNA security will help greatly. They would be foolish to let a valuable employee go.

Oh I have tried. I had a meeting with the CIO and the director of the networking department. They both told me "you will probably have to find a new job to get the experience you want." They just don't have any room or time for training someone. The last few new hires have been people with a good deal of experience and now they don't really need anyone new.

Jackace

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

I've already mentioned several ways to stand out in your area.. I'm quite good at standing out.. but this is yet another one. You say you get to look at the network. That is plenty to be able to understand and map your network and its protocols in detail.. also to troubleshoot its problems. Make the most of what you have. Some aspiring network professionals would probably be excited just to be able to login to those real routers and issue show commands.

[On a sidenote, see if you can get remote or wireless access. If so, the number of hours you are allowed in the building would not be a factor for learning networking.]

I have actually already done something similar to this in the data center. I'm also now the go to person for our Network monitoring software, because I volunteered, but I still can't get any chance to move up. My access to hardware is only partial view access so it severely limits what I can do.

m3zilla

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

I've already mentioned several ways to stand out in your area.. I'm quite good at standing out.. but this is yet another one. You say you get to look at the network. That is plenty to be able to understand and map your network and its protocols in detail.. also to troubleshoot its problems. Make the most of what you have. Some aspiring network professionals would probably be excited just to be able to login to those real routers and issue show commands.

[On a sidenote, see if you can get remote or wireless access. If so, the number of hours you are allowed in the building would not be a factor for learning networking.]

^ what he said.

I would be ecstatic if the people from our NOC would actually put in the time to try and understand the network. As is, most issues are escalated to us once they do the basic troubleshoot (ping/traceroute/firewall logs)