Path towards a career?

This is the job I am hoping to eventually reach.

I am actually fairly new to the IT world. I am working for my 2 year degree, and I have about 2 years of experience in Help Desk for a Windows Server environment. I work with a large corporate business that uses this network. I am learning a lot, but there is plenty more to learn. I only know basics on networking, security, storage, etc.

This is a company that one of my respected mentors has pushed me to look into, one that he could help me get a job at. I have heard nothing but good things about Netapp, and after researching, it is something that interests me. It almost looks like SAN administration, except I wouldn't be as much "administrating" as I would be just troubleshooting Netapp software and hardware. However, from what I understand, they exclusively use (almost) their own software for managing their storage solutions. With this in mind, it leaves me at a bit of a loss as how to prepare for such a job.

My mentor says they teach you a lot of the stuff, as they want to mold you with their own technology, not have you come in with some other SAN stuff in mind.

But still, I want to be an attractive potential employee, and if I do reach this position, I would like to be effective. This is obviously further down the road, and it may seem odd for me to be planning on getting into one company. Just roll with it, for now.

To any of you familiar with the company, or those who have read the earlier link.... what do you think a good path would be in order to build myself as an IT employee for my current company, as well as slowly build myself up as someone who would be an attractive fit for that job? I was planning on working for a Network+ or a basic Cisco cert, just to show I know the standard that every tech (imho) should know for an IT career. But what beyond that? How can I get experience in something that is unique to their company? Sure, SAN isn't a unique concept, but their way of doing it is. Is there a particular certificate I can study to brush up on NFS, CIFS, RAID, Veritas, Exchange DR, and etc?

Thank you for your time!

- Basic understanding of some of the following protocols and applications:
- NFS, the UNIX remote file sharing protocol
- CIFS, the Windows NT remote file sharing protocol
- TCP/IP
- Networking
- RAID
- Microsoft Exchange and/or Veritas software.
- Strong aptitude for learning new technologies and understanding how to utilize them in a customer facing environment.
- Ability to follow standard engineering principles and practices.
- Creative approach to problem solving.
- Must have at least 1 or more areas of expertise such as: backup and recovery, Exchange DR, Veritas, Lotus Notes, Linux, AIX, or networking; including at least 2 years of experience working in that particular specialty.

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Comments

DoubleNNs

The link doesn't work.

cyberguypr

Is this the one?

twofingered

Yes, thank you. The link I posted probably doesn't work because it is a Search result. My late night coffee has run dry.

cyberguypr

Original link still doesn't work. I bet if you try from another PC or activate private browsing it won't work for you. If you take a look at the link you posted there's a job If embedded (jobId=384868 ). Google "netapp 384868" and boom, you get the good link I posted that although not directly Netapp, shows the position.

twofingered

It should work now. Apologies for the confusion!

DoubleNNs

Sorry to hi-jack your thread and focus most of the attention on whether the link worked or not lol. You mention that you have 2 years of Help Desk experience. Other than that, do you have any certs or experience using any of the other technologies used at Netapp?

Also, did your mentor give you any direction to go in other that simply telling you you'll get training?

Polynomial

DoubleNNs wrote: »

Also, did your mentor give you any direction to go in other that simply telling you you'll get training?

NetApp does train their employees a lot. Its true.

twofingered

The mentor didn't at all, no.

He actually got the job by studying NetApp resources that an employee provided to him. In hindsight, he found out that was a horrible idea. He went into the interview and seemed to be brilliant, so they hired him, and were a bit unhappy to realize he didn't have the skill level they thought he had. In the end though, he became respected, as he was a hard worker and really put effort into becoming what they thought he was. I have grilled him on what non-NetApp tech I can learn in order to prepare myself for something like this, and he doesn't have a solid answer. I have asked about Certs specific to this in another forum, and that did point me in a good direction.

I found out that they just started using Cisco networking tech in some of their own personal SAN tech, so I am looking into a CCENT.

No apology needed, NN. I appreciate you helping out with it! In those two years of experience, I have worked with/studied (through college) TCP/IP, Networking, and RAID. The first two requirements are nothing I am that familiar with (outside of what they are), nor am I aware of what I would work with to get experience on those. Since they want you to have a focus, I am planning on looking further into the CCNA, if anything. I am clueless about Linux and AIX, so I am thinking about learning those as well.

I don't want to just learn this stuff JUST to be attractive for this one job though, and then have a smattering of unrelated knowledge that is completely useless to anyone else.