Is something wrong with me or should i just quit ?

zimskiz

Hello,

I'm a NOC engineer since May 15 2013 and i'm a little bit disappointed about me. I have CCNA, CCNP Route and Switch certification. What what worries me is that i have so plenty of infomation in my head but when it comes to modify configurations i almost forget everything. Just about 1h ago i had to put an ACL on a Vlan for a client, but i've failed because i ve forget to use wildcard instead of mask ( the senior said to me " omg this task was from CCNA, wtf ? " ).

I have so many basic stuff that sometimes i forget how should be done....don't know. Did anybody experiencing same problemes at the beginning ? or this filed is not for me ?

wgroom

I definitely would stop thinking about quitting, if you have gotten this far in your studies you have a reasonable grasp of the concepts. It seems to me applying the knowledge may be harder, due to nerves, time constraints, etc. If this is the case, read some studies for stress management. Develop your skills at home labbing. Do you have tasks that are scheduled, or dumped on you unexpectedly, and done immediately? If they are scheduled, practice them at home in your lab. It seems to me managing the stress is what is causing you issues, and if you can learn how to effectively manage that you will be much better at your job. Self confidence breeds more confidence. Best of luck moving forward.

DoubleNNs

It's easy to forget things you've learned in the past. Make sure you review the material you've learned in the past and continue to lab them so they stay fresh.
You might also want to invest in a command guide for reference. Even better yet, while reviewing you can compile your own documents of notes of frequently used tasks, as well as tasks you think you may forget. Google is also your friend when you need to quickly remember a command that may have slipped your mind.

On top of that, I agree w/ wgroom. It may just be nerves. Practice keeping calm and quickly remembering the knowledge you need when it comes time to apply them.
I don't think you need to quit. Just continue improving and take each previous mistake as a learning instrument and keep from repeating them.

antielvis

Sounds to me like your "senior" is the one with the problem. None of us can remember everything and unless you do the same thing everyday over and over you're bound to forget it. That's what a search engine or man files are for; to look up something you can't completely remember. This industry is now very complex and it expands very rapidly so keeping up is a challenge even for the Sheldon Cooper types.

Don't sweat it

Dieg0M

I can understand the perspective of your senior because I've done this several times. Concepts or configurations that seem simple and obvious to me are not always simple and obvious to other people. I also understand where you are coming from when you say that you have all this information in your head but that you have a hard time using it. The best my advice I could give you when you encounter a problem is to first take a step back and try to relax. Try and think about the big picture and organize this information in your head. Most importantly, always verify what you do and never give up.

mdomino

Spin up a lab w/ GNS3 before you make any changes. That way if you make a mistake you don't make a mistake on the production network.

(and you're the only one who sees it)

A RDP session with GNS3 is the best time/face-saver you'll ever have

zimskiz

" I definitely would stop thinking about quitting, if you have gotten this far in your studies you have a reasonable grasp of the concepts. It seems to me applying the knowledge may be harder, due to nerves, time constraints, etc. If this is the case, read some studies for stress management. Develop your skills at home labbing. Do you have tasks that are scheduled, or dumped on you unexpectedly, and done immediately? If they are scheduled, practice them at home in your lab. It seems to me managing the stress is what is causing you issues, and if you can learn how to effectively manage that you will be much better at your job. Self confidence breeds more confidence. Best of luck moving forward."


The problems appears unexpectedly and need to be solved immediately, so i can't practice in GNS/Packet Tracer etc...

snunez889

Don't look at it so negatively man. Like others have said you cant remember everything, unless you touch it every day. I go by the phrase measure twice, cut once. Even when I know how to do something I still try to reference something so I don't make a mistake.

JeanM

It will get easier with more time/practice, keep at it!

networker050184

It sounds like you need to work on your confidence. Even though you can't practice the unexpected problem, you can sharpen your skills to give you the confidence in what you are doing.

kohr-ah

Unless you do it every single day it will be forgotten and everyone does it once in a while.

Like networker said work on your confidence would be primarily.

Second would be that your senior is obviously a poor mentor. I have had a few of those. When they are being jerks just sit there in your head and say funny thing about them. Isn't worth getting bothered for.

Just keep moving forward.

Heck the other day our CCNP senior couldn't figure out why he couldn't get into the store router for 30 minutes and know what it was? An access list blocking him on the vty ports everyone does it.

Jon_Cisco

This is one of the reasons you here so many people say that experience is so important. Just keep at it and try to remain calm. Mistakes happen it's how we recover and learn from them that matters most.

Good Luck

jibbajabba

Create your own knowledgebase.

In places where i had full internetaccess, I had a website somewhere (which was password protected) where I wrote my own articles in how to do stuff. In places like MSPs where I could simply spin up a VM, I had it hosted internally. And so on. This way you don't just have the most common tasks available, but you learn them even better as you don't just do them , but write them again as well.

Or go old-skool, get a big notepad