Data Center specialist Program

Today I was browsing the site for my local tech school and saw that they are now offering this:

Data Center Specialist

This is the same school I have my AAS from. I would only have to start with the Data center concepts 1 class.

Do you guys think that this would be worth pursing? I ask because the only real world experience i have is PC repair.

My thought is that this may help me get a entry level data center job. I'm trying to make up for my lack in experience with knowledge.

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Comments

janmike

I do not know of anything better than education to get the attention of potential employers, except experience and education.

Good luck!

Kaminsky

Thing about working in a data centre is that all the network / server support, design and configuration and operations etc is done off site. The actual staff in a data centre are typically only ops (backups, sign out keys, take deliveries) or the local server/network installation team who typically rack em and stack em..

Phliplip112

Kaminsky wrote: »

The actual staff in a data centre are typically only ops (backups, sign out keys, take deliveries) or the local server/network installation team who typically rack em and stack em..

Seems like that would be good entry level work for some one wanting to get into the network side of things.

I could be wrong though.

Kaminsky

Phliplip112 wrote: »

Seems like that would be good entry level work for some one wanting to get into the network side of things.

I could be wrong though.

Maybe DC then Noc then router/switch builds for same company then upwards would be a very experience gaining route. You would be golden with the scale of equipment you could be exposed to. If you carried on with certs as you went then even better.

Cisco do have DC courses but I think you need to be NP to sit them. I could be wrong about that.

Phliplip112

Cisco has a couple different specialty certs for a DC. I don't know that I would want to do that anyways, they only last 2 years.

I may try this program out and see how it works when i finish my CCNA:S

I don't normally see many Data Center jobs but they pop up occasionally. I could be looking in the wrong place.

I have only ever applied to 2 data center positions one for Sungard and the other for Google.

The Sungard position got pulled because of the economy. I don't know what happen with the Google one couldn't get in contact with anyone after the phone interview. Both were considered entry level.

If anything maybe it would be a good social networking opportunity.

Solaris_UNIX

I know a lot of people who hire entry-level data center technicians and going to a school that claims to specifically train data center technicians to me looks like something that has "epic fail" written all over it.... unless you know someone personally that has gone to this school who has gotten a data center job as a result of the education they received there.

Please answer these two questions for me before you decide to enroll:

Question #1: Do you personally know anyone who has gotten a good job after graduating from this school?

Question #2: Do you know an employer who is willing to guarantee you a job after you graduate from this school?

If the answer to both of these questions is: "No." Then how do you know that you're going to get a job after graduating from this school when there is no empirical evidence that suggests otherwise? Some of these trade schools actually do have contacts with data center HR people and will probably get you a job while other ones don't, so there's no guarantee you'll get a job unless you know they have the connections, and the proof of that is going out and meeting people who actually graduated from this school and finding out what kind of jobs they got.

The biggest factors in getting entry level data center work are:

(1) having lots of experience.

(2) being really awesome at troubleshooting / fixing broken computer hardware and software related stuff

(3) being awesome at configuring and deploying servers

(3) knowing how to crimp custom length Cat5 and Cat6 cables and knowing when to use a crossover cable doesn't hurt either. Being able to subnet properly can be a useful skill in network troubleshooting as well. Being able to put rails and shelving properly in a cabinet is good as well.

Have you ever run your own server before? Have you ever built your own custom server from parts and colocated it in a datacenter? If you can prove to a data center employer that you're currently running your own basic-level Linux server in production with your own web sites and your own BIND / DNS / domain name and you're own e-mail address @ your domain name and you can give the right answers to all the questions they ask in the interview (you'll know the right answers if you have real world experience) then you can get the job.

Of course you could also run Windows Server 2003 or 2008 on your server, but it would be much more expensive to do so with having to purchase the software, deal with licensing, etc.

I know it sounds like common sense, but the best way to get your foot in the door in an IT field is just to be really good with computers.

There are lots of people who graduate from tech schools that suck at computers, so a lot of the more hard-nosed employers are very skeptical about how much your trade-school certificate is really worth.

human151

I work in a data center and imo, getting those certs would be a waste of valuable time that could be spent studying for something else.

TBH, I wouldnt recommend working in a DC.
Getting your NP will make you more valuable to any potential employer.