High Schooler looking for Serious Networking Career Help

Hello Everyone!

I am right now in high school and have started thinking about my future career. I thought that Networking would be a good choice and I found two Universities for a Bachelor's degree in Networking. The links to the undergrad programs of each Univ are:
http://www.businessandit.uoit.ca/EN/main/96618/140839/141098.html
http://www.carleton.ca/cu0708uc/programs/informationtechnology.html

I have no networking experience at all but I am rather good with computers otherwise and my friends consider me as a computer expert, bringing all their complex problems to me.

UOIT prepares students for the CCNA, CCNP and CCIE written exams, so I thought I should go for a CCNA right now before grad'ing from high school for the following reasons:
To get a taste of Net'ing
To get preference when applying for admission.
To get an overall understanding of IT so that I perform better at Univ.
To possibly get a part time job while in School to get some extra curricular credit.
To possibly make it easier to find a part time job while at Univ so that I get experience.
So that I can go for a CCNP while in Univ.
Finally to get a head start with my career.

To get a CCNA, I can join an institute in the summer and they said that they can get me through a CCNA with practical hands on work within 6-10 weeks. Or I can get the guy who configures my Dad's offices' network ( also my Dad's friend) to help me out with my CCNA. He says nothing is hard and I can do it. I actually got the Cisco Networking Academy course material so that I could learn on my own. I also got CCNA Study Guide 5th Ed by Todd Lammle.

Do you think this is a good 'strategy' or can you please suggest something to me? And how would you recommend me to get started with networking and the CCNA provided that I have no net'ing knowledge.

Secondly I want to talk about the future ahead of Education as well. UOIT offers an internship program so I will be able to get some experience. I have heard that exp is a very important factor in the IT world. So do you think that I will be able to land a decent job with a CCNA/CCNP and the internship exp and possibly some previous high school experience?

Maybe instead of going for an all out Cisco certification run, I might concentrate on basic Novell/Red Hat or MS certs which I believe help a lot. Do you think it would be hard for a person with a CCNa, Novel/Red Hat/MS associate level cert and a bachelor's degree in IT, and 1-2 years of experience, to find a decent job in a respectable company with potential for promotions and a nice pay?

If there is anything else you might want to tell me please do so.

Thank you

PS I got really put off when I read that IT jobs are hard to get.

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Comments

Aquabat [banned]

that is excellent news that you want to stat your networking career out so early! CCNA and Net+ will give you a great foundation to build upon. You will probably learn more from CCNA then you will at school, i know i did! too bad it will expire before you graduate though

iproute

Dingdongbubble wrote:

I have no networking experience at all but I am rather good with computers otherwise and my friends consider me as a computer expert, bringing all their complex problems to me.

Networking is hard stuff compared to PC troubleshooting. I learned pretty much everything to reach the same "expert" status among my friends by just playing around and never opening a book. Not possible with networking, be ready for that.

Dingdongbubble wrote:

UOIT prepares students for the CCNA, CCNP and CCIE written exams, so I thought I should go for a CCNA right now before grad'ing from high school for the following reasons:
1) To get a taste of Net'ing
2) To get preference when applying for admission.
3) To get an overall understanding of IT so that I perform better at Univ.
4) To possibly get a part time job while in School to get some extra curricular credit.
5) To possibly make it easier to find a part time job while at Univ so that I get experience.
6) So that I can go for a CCNP while in Univ.
7) Finally to get a head start with my career.

1) You will certainly get this by studying for CCNA
2) Dunno
3) CCNA won't give you an overall understanding of IT, only experience can give you that IMO.
4) Might help
5) Might help
6) If you want
7) If you want a career in IT, having your CCNA will help you get there.

Dingdongbubble wrote:

To get a CCNA, I can join an institute in the summer and they said that they can get me through a CCNA with practical hands on work within 6-10 weeks. Or I can get the guy who configures my Dad's offices' network ( also my Dad's friend) to help me out with my CCNA. He says nothing is hard and I can do it. I actually got the Cisco Networking Academy course material so that I could learn on my own. I also got CCNA Study Guide 5th Ed by Todd Lammle.

Sounds like you can get some good knowledge and experience with both of the options you noted. The Cisco press books and the Sybex book contain all the necessary info for CCNA.

Dingdongbubble wrote:

And how would you recommend me to get started with networking and the CCNA provided that I have no net'ing knowledge.

Take that Sybex book and read it cover to cover. Make sure you understand everything that's said. If you don't know what he's talking about, look it up online. It'll take you a long time to get through it, but if you don't learn networking fundamental ideas and fundamental terms, you're gonna have a hard road.

Dingdongbubble wrote:

Secondly I want to talk about the future ahead of Education as well. UOIT offers an internship program so I will be able to get some experience. I have heard that exp is a very important factor in the IT world. So do you think that I will be able to land a decent job with a CCNA/CCNP and the internship exp and possibly some previous high school experience?

Experience, Certs, 4-year degree: IMO, that's the order of importance. It's a good idea to have all, but I think experience outweighs them all. If you find that you can't secure a network engineer position right out of training, aim lower and rack up some experience first and try again later. Getting as much experience as you can while you're in school is a good idea.

Dingdongbubble wrote:

Maybe instead of going for an all out Cisco certification run, I might concentrate on basic Novell/Red Hat or MS certs which I believe help a lot. Do you think it would be hard for a person with a CCNa, Novel/Red Hat/MS associate level cert and a bachelor's degree in IT, and 1-2 years of experience, to find a decent job in a respectable company with potential for promotions and a nice pay?

All of the above questions depend on the market and the person. There is no easy answer. If you really love IT, learn your stuff and feel your way through. Money CAN be made in this world, but no one is going to hand it to you on a silver plate. For a network engineer, I'd say they should have a base administrative level understanding of Windows and Linux (backed by certs) along with all of the Cisco experience and certifications.

Dingdongbubble wrote:

PS I got really put off when I read that IT jobs are hard to get.

IT is really hard to break into, but once you're in, experienced, and have a valuable marketable skill, sky is the limit. Be ready to work hard. If you're not, look elsewhere for a career, unless you enjoy basking in mediocrity.

Dingdongbubble

Thank You for your Replies!

I did try to read the Sybex book but I dont I understood much of it. I have however started the Cisco Networking Academy CDs and have made it through the first chapter of the first CCNA1 module namely Networking Basics. I cant understand what boolean logic is for and how to properly use hexadecimals. Do you think I should join an institute in the summer to get through the CCNA as they will have proper qualified trainers?

How do you think I should go about with the CCNA. Remember that I dont know anythign about Net'ing and want to start form scratch.

You mentioned that net'ing is a hard stuff. Does this hard work actually pay off? Another question I have for the long term is quite important to me. Does your social life and family life get drastically affected by the 'hard' work?

Thank You

iproute

Dingdongbubble wrote:

How do you think I should go about with the CCNA. Remember that I dont know anythign about Net'ing and want to start form scratch.

I think formal education is a good idea (if this is really what you want to pursue). I don't think it's something that you can just understand overnight, it takes a good long while of being subjected to and digesting the concepts day in and day out. Maybe I'm wrong, anyone wanna comment?

Dingdongbubble wrote:

You mentioned that net'ing is a hard stuff. Does this hard work actually pay off? Another question I have for the long term is quite important to me. Does your social life and family life get drastically affected by the 'hard' work?

I think it pays off if you're good at what you do and know your worth. Regarding the social life, I'd wager that most of the folks here go home from work at least a few times a week (and/or on weekends) and continue playing with or studying about their technology. This really depends on the individual.

Darthn3ss

does your highschool offer cisco classes? mine did, maybe you should look into that.

(i hate that i didn't take them - wasn't sure what i was going to do until my senior year when it was too late to take them)

Dingdongbubble

My school does not have any Cisco classes

But I think formal education would be a good idea and by the end of it, if I fail, I can read the SYbex book from cover to cover a few times and understand it, read other books as well, practice at my dad's place and I think I would be able to do it!

MrfixitRight

How do you get to Carnigie Hall?

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

Not making light of this or anything, but while this is an "OLD" joke, it kind of rings true to life. The best way to get any experience is to get a lot of "Hands-on" practice. There is nothing better to prepare you for a career, or exam for that matter, than "Real" world experience. Good luck to you in your pursuits! I have to commend someone so young that knows what they want in life. If all the teens in this country were so goal oriented, it might be a better place. (IMO)

I'd wager that most of the folks here go home from work at least a few times a week (and/or on weekends) and continue playing with or studying about their technology. This really depends on the individual.

I have a VERY understanding wife! She knows that getting this cert means more $$$ in the family coffers!!!!!

Kaminsky

If I were your age and bent on computers, I personally would head toward computer forensics.

Worth a looksie anyway.... http://www.forensicpage.com/new05.htm

My friends son has just finished his first year of this and we both agree, he will never be unemployed or poor! The stuff you will learn will blow your mind and most of the readers that read these forums.

If your already planning for the future, this is where it really is.

I've been in IT support for almost 15 years (after school, college and university) and now as a 3rd line support for one of the top 3 blue chip IT companies in the world (my new job btw), this is what I would personally recommend you head towards.

Just my opinion.

Dingdongbubble

So what exactly do I have to do when I go into computer forensics. I hope I dont get involved into CSI type cases where there e frequent life/death situations or where my family and I receive death threats frequently.

What about prospects around the world? (I might want to live elsewhere)
What is the normal salary range?
The demand for computer forensics 'guys' is going up, right?
I do not study sociology or any 'humanities' subject in school. Will this affect my ability to enter a University?

thank You

DW [banned]

Thanks

Dingdongbubble

As you know I am a high schooler, so before its too late I started looking into which career to go into. That's the reason I am over here. I have an interest in computers and business so I am looking around for good careers, which will last until I am there and are rewarding. Most probably I will be in Canada, so I need to consider what goes on in the Canadian job market as well. What I decided was that I would go for a CCNa in the summer so that I would get a taste of Networking and whether I would like it in the long run. It would even benefit my career in the future. So if anyone has any advice to give me, I would be very grateful, as you might understand that I am not very experienced in life!

Thank You

PS I will get back to you Darby

emsrescue

Hi,

I am 30 and only just looking into getting into the IT industry. I am doing the CCNA as networking interest me but I am also looking at Security+ & Linux+ as they both subjects that I am interested in and the certs will always look pretty stuck on my wall

At your age everything bit of studying you do cant hurt you. In any IT field a CCNA will show that you have attained a good basic knowledge of networking. Computer Forensics and security are 2 fields that are big at the moment and should be a good career move IF they interest you. In either of those fields a good grounding in as many aspects of IT as possible will be a great advantage. i.e. Linux/unix, windows admin etc

I would go with the CCNA studying this summer with the institute you mentioned. They will have instructors who can asnwer your questions and it sounds like they have some kit that you can play with to get some hands on experience. As for college, work out what field you want to get into and pursue that. A college degree is always a good thing as it shows that you have the ability and comitment to study regardless of the subject.

Try to get involved with anything you can that will get you some hands on experience. Certifications and qualifications are all well and good but experince to back them up is invaluable when starting on a career. If you can get an internship go for it. If you know someone who runs an IT business try to get a part time / voluntary job over the summers.

I am looking at an organistaion in the UK that connects charities with IT professionals. I am hoping that I may be able to get some extra experience in my spare time through them.

Its good that you are looking at this so early so good luck.

Jon

Dingdongbubble

Is it possible to get experience without being paid? Is it possible to volunteer and work at some company and get experience through them and show it on my resume without being paid?

emsrescue

Is it possible to get experience without being paid? Is it possible to volunteer and work at some company and get experience through them and show it on my resume without being paid?

Yes!

Experience is experience regardless of how much your getting paid.

Jon

DW [banned]

Thanks

Tricon7

Holy Cow! You are on the ball! You've pretty much got the world by the tail - I wish I had your foresight when I was getting out of high school. I think your ideas are pretty good. Just make sure that the program you want to go in out of h.s. isn't a crash course, where you race through the material instead of covering it well.

I wish you well on your future!

Dingdongbubble

SO I guess I will go for a CCNA this summer instead of wasting my time in front of my computer doing practically nothing.

Any tips?

Thank You once again!

Paul Boz

You may want to consider getting an intro tech support job for an ISP if it's a possibility. I started working in tech support after I graduated from high school four years ago because it let me go to college and make decent money in the "Real world." I gained more experience in that job (I still work for the same company actually) than I did from my time in college or my Cisco study.

Darthn3ss

Paul Boz wrote:

You may want to consider getting an intro tech support job for an ISP if it's a possibility. I started working in tech support after I graduated from high school four years ago because it let me go to college and make decent money in the "Real world." I gained more experience in that job (I still work for the same company actually) than I did from my time in college or my Cisco study.

+1 to that, i've been looking into doing that. some of these companies will also pay for college.

Rearden

To anyone with professional networking experience, I ask you does being a good programmer help things? I'm a 20 year old CS major that works in our IT department maintaining the campus network. I'd imagine that a CS major is a pretty common thing to have amongst networking professionals, but I'd like to know if it makes a difference. It sounds as if getting off to an early start like this is even more valuable than potentially getting my cert at my age.