Entry level NOC job - what is it like?

As I'm churning through my Cisco cert studies, I'm really starting to think I'd like to work in an NOC. I have some questions for anyone who has the time and inclination.

1) I currently work in a general IT position (my title is IT Specialist and I do a bunch of stuff, from project management to wire runs), so I have a lot of exposure to different technologies, but I don't 'do networking' on a daily basis; I resolve networking issues as they come up, but I'm not responsible for the daily administration of routers or switches. Is it viable to jump from a job like mine straight into a NOC if I have the proper credentials?

1a) If the answer to #1 was 'yes', what credentials should I work on? CCNA is a given (ICND2 scheduled next Friday and I'm ready for it). Should I proceed to CCNP studies, or does a CCNP look weird on a resume without time at a dedicated networking position to go with it?

2) Is it okay to put down all of the technology that I'm comfortable with on my resume even if I don't use it at work? For instance, I know how to configure and troubleshoot OSPF because it's in the CCNA curriculum, but I don't get to touch our routers at work, so I've only configured it in lab settings. Can I put down OSPF as a competency anyway? I understand that I shouldn't put down anything that I'm not prepared to talk about at length in the interview.

3) For those of you reading this who work in a NOC, can you lay out a typical day for me? What is it like, particularly for someone just starting out at one? What are the hours? Is it fun? I know different work environments yield different experiences, but I don't know anyone who works at a NOC, so I don't know what to expect beyond what I can piece together from looking at the job requirements for open NOC positions in my area.

Any experiences or advice you may have would be welcome. Thank you!

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Comments

NetworkVeteran

treehouse wrote: »

CCNA is a given (ICND2 scheduled next Friday and I'm ready for it). Should I proceed to CCNP studies, or does a CCNP look weird on a resume without time at a dedicated networking position to go with it?

Yup, it does look a tad strange! Cisco recommends 1 year of experience before obtaining your CCNP. A common path with imho better ROI for those who want to go beyond CCNA but do not yet have any experience is to pursue CCNA specializations. There are several and this makes you more broadly appealing so you can begin earning the holy grail--experience.

2) Is it okay to put down all of the technology that I'm comfortable with on my resume even if I don't use it at work? I understand that I shouldn't put down anything that I'm not prepared to talk about at length in the interview.

This is what many people use "skills" section for--to name skills they don't actually have any/much experience with.

networker050184

Every NOC is different, but your primary function will more than likely be to monitor alarms and possibly some low level troubleshooting before shipping tickets off to the appropriate groups to fix the problems. It's not the most glorious work, but hey you have to start somewhere.

As far as listing technology yo haven't worked with I probably wouldn't emphasize it on the resume if you do list it. I've never been a fan of the 'Skills' section on a resume. If you don't have any kind of substance to put behind it probably should go on your resume. Just my $.02.

treehouse

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

Yup, it does look a tad strange! Cisco recommends 1 year of experience before obtaining your CCNP. A common path with imho better ROI for those who want to go beyond CCNA but do not yet have any experience is to pursue CCNA specializations. There are several and this makes you more broadly appealing so you can begin earning the holy grail--experience.

Thank you for that! It's a question I've had for a while but I haven't ever gotten a solid answer on it. Unless otherwise directed, the next thing on my list was CCNA: Security, followed by MCSA Server 2012. Is it useful to have a sys admin credential for NOC positions, or should I nix the MCSA altogether and work on CCNA: Voice to round out the year?

This is what many people use "skills" section for--to name skills they don't actually have any/much experience with.

That's good to know. My current resume draft has a skills section, but it is just a summary of things I have proven experience with (which is sometimes redundant with the highlights portion of my job history). Just to make sure I understand clearly, Skills should include all of my competencies, whether I have experience with them or not? Or just the ones I don't have experience with?

treehouse

networker050184 wrote: »

Every NOC is different, but your primary function will more than likely be to monitor alarms and possibly some low level troubleshooting before shipping tickets off to the appropriate groups to fix the problems. It's not the most glorious work, but hey you have to start somewhere.

That's okay. I would prefer low level work at first while I acclimate myself to the environment.

As far as listing technology yo haven't worked with I probably wouldn't emphasize it on the resume if you do list it. I've never been a fan of the 'Skills' section on a resume. If you don't have any kind of substance to put behind it probably should go on your resume. Just my $.02.

I guess my problem with taking out the Skills section is that I feel like I have to have some way of communicating to anyone looking at my resume that I am familiar with BGP or EtherChannel without dishonestly implying that I am paid to work with those techs. When I'm not at work or school or parenting, all I do is network. I think I'm in a virtual or physical lab on average 2-3 hours per day. If none of that 'counts', I'm not sure how to even get into my first networking job, because even the entry level jobs ask for experience or familiarity with very specific CCNP-level concepts.

Edit: To be clear, I don't have BGP or EtherChannel (or OSPF, for that matter) on my resume now.

networker050184

There is no actual standard, but IMO a resume is to show your professional experience and education. So I suppose if you want to show what you are educated on you can put it there.

kurosaki00

Like others have said, NOCs are different from noc to noc.
Mainly you will respond to alarms and calls of issues, and create tickets and route them.

How you do that is what varies depending on the NOC.
For example some places will have you do a lot of show commands, call customers and ask them to perform some basic troubleshooting (restart, which lights are on, etc), perform traceroutes, ping test.
Some others will ask you just to gather the alarm info and route the ticket to an administrator/engineer.

Here we are the NOC for many networks, some you just create and route tickets
others we even have tools to check on data jacks, IPs, DNS, WiFi signals coverage, floor plans and lots of cool stuff.

Haunt

Does anyone know if NOC employees who work night-shifts typically get paid night-shift differentials kind of like how nurses do?

I'm interviewing for a NOC position later this week and was told that the position would eventually turn into a rotating schedule with some nights and weekends so getting paid an extra night-shift differential would take out some of the sting out of having to to work that kind of schedule.

networker050184

Usually there is a shift differential from my experience.

cruwl

The one I worked at nights got like an +8% shift differential its not a whole lot, and to me was not worth working nights. Weekends didnt have a differential either. we had rotating 12 hour shift 3 on 4 off, 4 on 3 off.

kurosaki00

night shift differential?
nop
no that I know of.
Specially when usually on nights less stuff happens. Its usually maintenance and stuff like that, instead of during the day where customers break havok everywhere.