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Network Hardware Test Technician

djfunz

About a month ago my contract ended working for very large well known company. Some of you may be aware that my true passion lies in Networking, but finding an entry level position can prove difficult.

I found a smaller company that may be a good fit, but I wanted some of the opinions of members here to weigh in and offer some insight.

The position does seem entry level as some of the responsibilities include the testing of routers and switches along with making fiber cables and visiting data centers.

I'm not sure how long the position will continue to present a challenge and be fulfilling, but it seems like a good start into a Networking related field.

Does it sound like a good position to accept or should I focus on a more NOC or Junior Networking Admin related position?

Thanks for your opinions everyone.

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Comments

djfunz

Grammar and misspellings fixed.

PurpleIT

IMO, this is a good opportunity. As you say, it may cease to be challenging rather quickly, but it may also open a few doors including advancement opportunities within the company.

djfunz

Thanks PurpleIT for your opinion. Any others care to chime in?

NetworkVeteran

djfunz wrote: »

The position does seem entry level as some of the responsibilities include the testing of routers and switches along with making fiber cables and visiting data centers. I'm not sure how long the position will continue to present a challenge and be fulfilling, but it seems like a good start into a Networking related field.

A testing position can challenge you your whole life. To adequately test a router or switch, you have to know how to configure and debug it, to create realistic topologies, and to push it like a customer or hacker would.

I would begin by clarifying what they mean by "Testing of routers." Is the team you're joining responsible for creating test plans, topologies, and configurations? Or is some other team responsible for that, and this team just checks that a lone device powers up and the ports pass traffic? If your role is lesser, but the team does more, you have opportunities for advancement. If the whole team does less, you may be pulling your hair out a few months from now looking for better opportunities.

Then again, I don't know what other opportunities you have available to you.

djfunz

It's a fairly small company that receives daily deliveries of Routers and Switches. I think the primary responsibilities will include the latter in your reply. Pretty basic stuff. The technical questions were Layer 2 based such as VLANs and ARP tables.

They are not a Cisco Partners so no imaging either. They essentially told me yesterday that the role can get tedious and some days there is down time. They promote studying and I guess I could study for WGU during that time.

I guess I'm just wondering if this could be a gateway to a decent Networking role down the line or if I should ride UI a bit longer until a better role comes along? Would this look good on a resume as far as Networking experience is concerned to a hiring manager or HR?