Network Engineer Phone Screen

Well I have a phone screen for a Network Engineer Job on Monday. I have been reviewing my CCNA level stuff (as this is a CCNA/CCNP job) and they are looking for someone to join their team and grow--quickly. At any rate I am trying to think of things I should not F up, any ideas good people of TE? For those of you are are in network engineering (and in hiring roles) what types of things do you look for in JRs? Anything you guys think I should ask?

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SteveO86

Hang tough my friend!

More opportunities will come your way.

Turgon

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

Thanks for the information. I really need to work on my switching (basically haven't studied or thought about it in 14 months

For your JRs, What do you have them do during day to day work?

They do all kinds of things for me. We generally work together to provision, support, improve and rescue the platforms although a lot of the details are managed out to the operations area. Ops manager - senior engineers - junior engineers.

For the interview Im looking for work ethic and can do. But also care. Technically Im looking for good layer 2 skills, decent layer 3 and common sense on layer 1. Solid troubleshooting. Importantly I want to know that the individual can handle responsibility be professional, remain calm and is reliable. Other than that, common sense, team ethic and supportive of colleagues. Oh yes, and to be able to cope with any box I throw at them.

Turgon

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

Found out they went with someone else with more experience. Pretty pissed and depressed. I mean how the hell am I suppose to get experience if no one will cussing hiring me for a net engineer job? WTF I don't know what I am going to do. It just pisses me off that I guess its hard to break into a real career position when you are a "jr". I mean does my experience mean nothing? Have I done nothing for the last few years? Does it not even matter because I haven't touched x, y, or z? IDK I am pretty depressed right now. Wish I could get a beer.

Some fantastic people get passed over for jobs. Don't worry.

Dakinggamer87

Sorry that you didn't get the job

I also got recently passed up on several Systems/Network Administrator and Engineer positions so I know how you feel.

There are more opportunities so keep on applying!!

ccnxjr

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

Found out they went with someone else with more experience. Pretty pissed and depressed. I mean how the hell am I suppose to get experience if no one will cussing hiring me for a net engineer job? WTF I don't know what I am going to do. It just pisses me off that I guess its hard to break into a real career position when you are a "jr". I mean does my experience mean nothing? Have I done nothing for the last few years? Does it not even matter because I haven't touched x, y, or z? IDK I am pretty depressed right now. Wish I could get a beer.

I feel your pain all to well!
2 yrs ago i made it to second round of face to face interviews, in what seemed like a dream job to escape the help desk.
They never called back, i still jump everytime the phone rings

I ended up settling for another help desk gig which turned sour before the probation period ended (they basically wanted a receptionist/helpdesk person)

It eats me up inside to see people with even less experience than I have land entry level network eng. gigs.
grrrr!!!!!!

I'll buy you a beer if your in town , well ***** about job hunting bureaucracy/idiocracy

Bl8ckr0uter

Thanks guys i am just going to move forward and see what happens next.

RobertKaucher

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

Found out they went with someone else with more experience. Pretty pissed and depressed. I mean how the hell am I suppose to get experience if no one will cussing hiring me for a net engineer job? WTF I don't know what I am going to do. It just pisses me off that I guess its hard to break into a real career position when you are a "jr". I mean does my experience mean nothing? Have I done nothing for the last few years? Does it not even matter because I haven't touched x, y, or z? IDK I am pretty depressed right now. Wish I could get a beer.

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” - Calvin Coolidge.

Bl8ckr0uter

RobertKaucher wrote: »

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” - Calvin Coolidge.

Awesome quote.

Essendon

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

Found out they went with someone else with more experience. Pretty pissed and depressed. I mean how the hell am I suppose to get experience if no one will cussing hiring me for a net engineer job? WTF I don't know what I am going to do. It just pisses me off that I guess its hard to break into a real career position when you are a "jr". I mean does my experience mean nothing? Have I done nothing for the last few years? Does it not even matter because I haven't touched x, y, or z? IDK I am pretty depressed right now. Wish I could get a beer.

I know it sucks man, but keep at it. It surely wasnt the only good job out there. Persist and it'll come.

P.S. Do you want to get your resume looked at by us on here (or has it already been dissected?)

Bl8ckr0uter

I can put it up here again. I have put it up here in the past. At any rate I am already on to the next one

zerglings

May want to consider NOC if there are no willing companies to hire you and just prove yourself and move to their Network Engineering group. Just a thought.

NOC-Ninja

Im sure there are places that you can get hired as a network Engineer if you're mobile. I get a lot of job offers from different state. Also, try to get your CCNP. Its easier to get an email from recruiters coz of that. I actually get 3 emails a day from recruiters.

Bl8ckr0uter

zerglings wrote: »

May want to consider NOC if there are no willing companies to hire you and just prove yourself and move to their Network Engineering group. Just a thought.

I've worked in a noc before and honestly, I can't find one willing to pay enough. I have a family to feed you know?

NOC-Ninja wrote: »

Im sure there are places that you can get hired as a network Engineer if you're mobile. I get a lot of job offers from different state. Also, try to get your CCNP. Its easier to get an email from recruiters coz of that. I actually get 3 emails a day from recruiters.

I know the CCNP will help but honestly I am not feeling it right now. I have other stuff on my mind (see my sig). After I get that stuff done, I'll go after the NP (maybe). I'd really like to go for the GCIA after that and start the GCED or something but Idk. I might pick up CCDA to renew my cisco certs.

ccnxjr

Got these on an interview today for a server admin , didn't go so well, but maybe it could help others:

You have two subnets configured on a DHCP server, how do you get devices on one subnet to communicate with devices on the other?

How would you troubleshoot DHCP issues?

A pc can ping the gateway but is unable to browse the internet, troubleshoot.

How do you configure a group policy to restrict a user from being a local computer admin?

ConstantlyLearning

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

I might pick up CCDA to renew my cisco certs.

CCDA won't renew your certs.

SteveO86

ConstantlyLearning wrote: »

CCDA won't renew your certs.

CCDA, will renew his CCNA, but not his CCNA: Security

CCNA - Career Certifications & Paths - Cisco Systems

CCNA Recertification
CCNA certifications are valid for three years. To recertify, pass ONE of the following before the certification expiration date:

Pass the current ICND2 exam, or
Pass the current CCNA exam, or
Pass the current CCDA DESGN exam, or
Pass any current CCNA Concentration exam (wireless, or security, or voice, or SP Ops), or
Pass any current 642-XXX Professional level exam, or
Pass any current Cisco Specialist exam (excluding Sales Specialist exams or MeetingPlace Specialist exams or Implementing Cisco Telepresence Installations [ITI] exams), or
Pass any current CCIE Written Exam, or
Pass the current CCDE Written Exam OR current CCDE Practical Exam, or
Pass the Cisco Certified Architect (CCAr) interview AND the CCAr board review to extend lower certifications

ConstantlyLearning

SteveO86 wrote: »

CCDA, will renew his CCNA, but not his CCNA: Security

CCNA - Career Certifications & Paths - Cisco Systems

Sweet, good news.

Bl8ckr0uter

I was thinking he meant helper addresses but other than that p is dead on.

ccnxjr

Think the dude was looking DHCP Relay agent/IP Helper configs (he didn't seem satisfied with router).
More and more i think about it, they seem to be configuring a VoIP setup with a Windows box as the DHCP server.

Troubleshooting server side is a little different, i'm so used to turning the computer off and on!
One other consideration for DHCP issues is the service status, ditto for DNS, they can't work if they're not running.
Things that I started to think about after the interview ....

They kinda already knew that I am a newb to group policies, i don't mention it on my resume.
I felt like a fool for listing DHCP and DNS and not checking service status as part of the troubleshooting steps!

Getting a bunch of questions about BGP/MPLS for what i assume are entry level jobs.
There is only a brief mention of BGP in my CCNA material.
Goes prooving an earlier point theres a lot more to it than what the certs cover!

headshot

RobertKaucher wrote: »

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” - Calvin Coolidge.

nice quote/post.

Zartanasaurus

ccnxjr wrote: »

Think the dude was looking DHCP Relay agent/IP Helper configs (he didn't seem satisfied with router).

If your post is reflective of what he asked you, he didn't ask in a clear manner. OTOH, some probing by you could've gotten to the heart of what he wanted. I would've asked more like "how do you get the DHCP clients working with the server on a different network?".

Bl8ckr0uter

I guess I should mentioned this.

I had an interview yesterday with a local VAR/Wireless ISP for a network engineer. The job would be heavy cisco/networking oriented and there would be a lot of implementation. The company is small but is growing. There would be presales/postsales work involved as well. I liked the feeling I got from the IT department and I think the interview went very well. They are using a lot of the gear I have touched in the past. They are also looking for someone who is security oriented (which makes me think that they may be lacking that in their current staff). They are a Microsoft Shop but the IT manager said the best solution always wins in his eyes and they were always looking to improve their solutions. They said I should hear something back soon and if they offer the position to me, I will probably take it because I just liked the shop. We will see...

I just find it funny that as soon as I said to myself that I would be ok with working as a network engineer I have been getting hits on networking jobs. TBH most of the security jobs I have found in my area have sounded well, extremely boring. C&A work would probably make me slit my wrist and lay in a bathtub and auditing WOULD make me slit my wrist a lay in a bathtub--full of sharks.

This is related but not directly. I noticed that I do say um alot and I was wondering what you guys do to well not say that. Almost all of the time I am saying um to give my mouth a chance to catch up with my brain but I wonder how it sounds. My current boss said it can make people doubt what I say. I am just curious if it any of you have the same problem.

Forsaken_GA

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

This is related but not directly. I noticed that I do say um alot and I was wondering what you guys do to well not say that. Almost all of the time I am saying um to give my mouth a chance to catch up with my brain but I wonder how it sounds. My current boss said it can make people doubt what I say. I am just curious if it any of you have the same problem.

I used to. Now I just shut up mid-sentence if I'm about to say uhm, look up for a second to look like something just occurred to me, and use the pause to gather my thoughts and continue with what I was saying.

Forsaken_GA

RobertKaucher wrote: »

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” - Calvin Coolidge.

"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." - Winston Churchill

ehnde

Or shock therapy, but that's the more expensive approach. Seriously though I had that problem a decade ago....simply being aware of it and making an effort to not say "uhm" in your day to day speech will correct the problem over time.

Asif Dasl

Maybe replace it with 'ughh' a long kind of searching for a way to say something but can't find the words instead of 'umm' which doesn't have the same kind of ring to it. I can't really put it in to words 'ughhh'

RobertKaucher

Asif Dasl wrote: »

Maybe replace it with 'ughh' a long kind of searching for a way to say something but can't find the words instead of 'umm' which doesn't have the same kind of ring to it. I can't really put it in to words 'ughhh'

I say rather than that sniff really loudly and then rub the palm of your hand up your nose and through your hair.

SteveO86

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

This is related but not directly. I noticed that I do say um alot and I was wondering what you guys do to well not say that. Almost all of the time I am saying um to give my mouth a chance to catch up with my brain but I wonder how it sounds. My current boss said it can make people doubt what I say. I am just curious if it any of you have the same problem.

Happens to us all. After a while I just kind of realized there is only so much one person can do at any given time. So I just try to catch myself, especially at work I will keep the subject of any conversation limited to the current projects and state some future projects but their is no timeline for those future projects. Especially when surprise projects just sprout out of the ground or another project with a higher important raises it's head from management, you never know when going to be thrown your way.

I use to be that way with everything, even certifications I'd say I'm studying for this, this, this, and this.. months later I didn't accomplish anything. It got to the point where I had to tell myself I'm trying to study for this do not look at another subject.

Bl8ckr0uter

SteveO86 wrote: »

I use to be that way with everything, even certifications I'd say I'm studying for this, this, this, and this.. months later I didn't accomplish anything. It got to the point where I had to tell myself I'm trying to study for this do not look at another subject.

My problem is that there are just so many things that I feel like I should know that I feel like I have to learn it all at once. I have had to buckle down and study the WCNA just to give myself a clear goal.

L0gicB0mb508

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

My problem is that there are just so many things that I feel like I should know that I feel like I have to learn it all at once. I have had to buckle down and study the WCNA just to give myself a clear goal.

Pick a clear path and stick with it. If you happen to get a job that requires something, then you should deviate form the plan and study. If you intend on getting into packet analysis or IDS type work, stick with it. Don't stop mid studying on the Wireshark cert to go study VMware or something unless it is absolutely needed by your job.