system admin to network engineer

walter18 · April 2019

Hi, I currently work for a service provider, but mainly work in the cloud services division. supporting and maintaining IT infrastructure for our client's that host their servers and IT support with us.

Is it possible to transition into the networking department with not so much exposure or experience needed in? will it take me a long time to grasp the concepts?

I have been in IT for 4 years now, my certs? A+, Network+, Security+, Windows 10, fortinet NSE 3, currently working on windows server 2016.

future certs/, ccna R&S, ccnp R&S

can you share your experience if you were in a similar position

Infosec_Sam · April 2019

I bet you could leverage your Net+ to try to convince your manager to give you some more exposure to the networking team, but a CCNA R&S would really punch your ticket to a Network Engineering role. I've spoken with some IT instructors at my local tech school who have all said they very rarely see someone with a CCNA who is NOT employed in their field.

Since you have 4-years experience and a number of certs under your belt already, I don't think it will be hard at all for you to train up your networking skills. The concepts are really not that out there. The CCNA covers static and dynamic routing protocols (dynamic protocols are all pretty similar), general best practices and maintenance (setting up SSH, encrypting stuff), and then a bunch of one-off features like PPP, VTP, STP, ACLs, NAT. Once you know how to configure and troubleshoot something, there's really not much more to learn for the CCNA.

If you're an online learner, consider checking out Infosec Skills! If that's not your jam, I personally used (and am using) Wendell Odom's books to study for the CCENT and CCNA, respectively. They do a great job at thoroughly explaining concepts without putting me to sleep, so that's a plus!

matt333 · April 2019

I did System Administration for a few years before moving into networking. Cisco or Juniper cert generally will help you get into networking. I'd reach out to the manager of that team and see if you can collaborate on a project or two. That should help get you more exposure to that side of the company.

walter18 · April 2019

Thank you guys, I feel very encouraged

wiredtitan · April 2019

CCNA is key! People will see you are serious about transitioning to networking with this. I had a role where having this cert opened up opportunities in transitioning to one department and into networking departments.

A pro tip would be to volunteer working with your networking department on off days. But I would coordinate this with your manager. This is what I plan to do to move to other roles in the company I work for.

system admin to network engineer

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