Advice on landing a Network Engineer position

Hey everyone, I've been lurking around the forum for a while and just decided to make an account.

A little background info about me:

I'm 25 years old, currently work for an IT solutions company (but not doing IT) since I graduated. I graduated with a B.A. from Rutgers University with a degree in Information Technology and Informatics and also have my A+/Network+ and CCNA. I've been around computers all my life and am generally knowledgeable with experience in XHTML, Java, C++, Linux.

My question is... I don't have any official corporate IT experience so I'm finding it difficult to get a job in IT. I was thinking about starting out in Helpdesk somewhere and going up from there, but I'd really like to get into networking. Problem is, most network engineer jobs require exp and I don't have any formal corporate exp aside from lab work with routers/switches and the ios. Is it a waste of time to start in Helpdesk and hope to go up from there? Or is there a better path I can take? Any advice from anyone currently in the field is greatly appreciated.. where or how do I start? I'm willing to relocate if necessary, I just want to get started already!

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Comments

TechZilla

I think for you, either a Help Desk or NOC would be a good place to start. Especially since you already have your CCNA. It may be hard to find a NOC position without any IT experience.

shodown

you should be able to find a NOC position without much experince. A network engineer is going to be much harder. Since you are in jersey. NYC is not to far away and there are NOC jobs in the outskirts. Also Jersey has comcast and a few other areas with decent jobs, and Philly is another option.

GT-Rob

I agree that NOC is best place to start, although I wouldn't wait around to "work my way up" in 1 company. Work a NOC desk for a year then start looking for Admin/Engineer jobs. A year or two of solid experience plus certs should be enough to get some Jr Engineer jobs. It can happen very quick with some luck.

kevkevndkevin

thanks for the responses so far guys.. one question.. what's a NOC?

networker050184

NOC = Network Operations Center

This is where a lot of network engineers start their career out. Its the 'help desk' of the network world basically. What type of issues you will be working on and what type of access to equipment you will have depends on the company, but suffice to say it will be low level work. Great place to get your foot in the door and your career going.

Somnipotent

I started in customer service at a telco and moved to a NOC once I obtained my CCNA. Most NOCs are surveillance/monitoring and ticketing. Unless you know someone who'll give you a chance at a Network Engineer I position, put in your time and you'll get there.

kevkevndkevin

networker050184 wrote: »

NOC = Network Operations Center

This is where a lot of network engineers start their career out. Its the 'help desk' of the network world basically. What type of issues you will be working on and what type of access to equipment you will have depends on the company, but suffice to say it will be low level work. Great place to get your foot in the door and your career going.

Thanks again guys, this is exactly what I was looking for.. I'm not looking to get lucky and to land a great job right off the bat. I don't mind putting in the work and "paying my dues" so to speak, I just didn't know where to start out and wasn't sure if Help Desk was the way to go.

I'll be looking for NOC positions from now on.. what's the official job title? Something like Network Operations Center Technician?

Thanks a bunch!!!

Somnipotent

Network Control Tech, Network Operations Tech, Network Surveillance Tech, Operations Engineer... those are a few titles to be on the look out for.

GT-Rob

My first NOC job was good as we did a lot of change management too. Some places are simply "up/down" or "red/green" and then they call someone to fix it, where some places will actually let you get into troubleshooting and doing changes. Amazing experience and you can learn so much, I dont think anyone should get into engineering until they spend some time in the break/fix world (that applies to more than just network).

Mike-Mike

not to be a jerk... but how did you get a CCNA without ever hearing/reading the term NOC?

prtech

I never heard of the term NOC when I got my CCNA. I didn't know what a NOC was until I started looking for an IT job.

I work at a NOC now, and I'm getting interviewed next week for an Engineer position. It's definitely the best place to start if you want to get into Network Engineering.

atorven

In the NOC, at the lowest level is it equivalent to a Wintel helpdesk where instead of resetting passwords you’re looking at monitoring software and logging a call for someone to fix the problem?

Mike-Mike

atorven wrote: »

In the NOC, at the lowest level is it equivalent to a Wintel helpdesk where instead of resetting passwords you’re looking at monitoring software and logging a call for someone to fix the problem?

this is my experience

GT-Rob

atorven wrote: »

In the NOC, at the lowest level is it equivalent to a Wintel helpdesk where instead of resetting passwords you’re looking at monitoring software and logging a call for someone to fix the problem?

Usually this would be a 'tier 1' NOC job. Basic monitoring and read only access, generally escalating issues once confirmed. Tier 2 would be the break/fix, small changes, maybe monitoring if T1 doesn't exist. Tier 3 would be projects, new installs, escalations from T2.

Without any experience you may be stuck with Tier 1, but a CCNA should be good for Tier 2.

jamthat

Can anyone estimate what the general starting pay would be for an 'entry level' NOC job? Something for someone like the OP - B.A./B.S. in IT/IS, a few certs under their belt. I know it varies greatly by location, so let's just stick with a medium-large sized city for reference.

lsud00d

In the south (generally lower COL) the range is $30-45k for a NOC monkey position

Mike-Mike

lsud00d wrote: »

In the south (generally lower COL) the range is $30-45k for a NOC monkey position

this also is my experience

kurosaki00

Thats pretty good
NOC here is around 12 bucks n hour
I still think 12$ per hour is pretty good for a help desk position

I also want to move to network engineering but for some reason there are not much ads often for it
compared o stuff like sys admin
I barely see Network eng ads

VAHokie56

I went from desk side to our network services team fairly easy, just let the engineers know I was really interested and working on certs. I also stayed late on there changes off the clock and helped out where I could or just asked questions, when a spot opened up on the team they all knew me and I scooped it up. It has been 3 years since then and I have a great job (different company) that lets me do a lot of design and implementation. I only mentioned all this because I never worked in a NOC and I think there is more then one way to get a network gig but I do think having a background in desk side/ application word has really helped as a network engineer.

Oh and for reference my desk side job was $17/hr in VA

deronadd

Hey everyone, I have been apart of the techexams community for a while now but never posted anything. Actually this is my first post to a forum ever so please excuse any errors I may make.
With that said...I am in a similar boat as the original poster. I got a 2 year degree and A+ Net+ and CCNA certs without an actual job, just wanted to show some dedication to the field. After 3 years building up a steady knowledge base I got a system support job..basically 60% helpdesk 30% desktop support and 10% anything they threw at me including getting quotes comparing prices and looking up printer specs

. One day I expressed an interest in networking to the Network engineer and he invited me to look on which was the best thing that ever happened for me.
Everything I learned from labbing and reading clicked! and I ended up teaching him a few things

.A few months of solid tips and "help" and he entrusted me admin privileges to nearly every piece of Cisco equipment we have.
My point is it doesn't matter where you start out as long as you stay committed

and opportunity will come. And when it does grab it! (Also it would help not to break anything while "helping"...first time on production equipment was nerve wrecking to say the least!!!!)