Need advice on emplyment

I have my CCNA. The places I went to for entry level networking jobs. They turn me down cause I have no experience. Then I had an idea. What if I offer to volunteer for like maybe 2 weeks and they can see how I do for the 2 weeks and if they like me they might hire me, if they don't like me, I just move on.

What do you guys think?

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Comments

StonedHitman

How would I be a liability?

tprice5

Technically:
You don't know the network and you have zero incentive to be careful. Being inexperienced, you are prone to more mistakes than a veteran. Not being on the payroll, there is no consequence or fear of loss to make you second guess your keystrokes.

Legally:
If you tripped and fell in the break room. If there were a fire in the building and something happened to you. Insurance? I don't work in HR or in a law firm so I don't know the implications of having someone working there who is not an employee.

If some shop was really hurting for people and you proved yourself in the interview to be reliable, then maybe. But if I was making the call I would not allow you access to my network. No offense, and it has nothing to do with your technical ability, I just can't see the benefit of having an untrained, unpaid intern in my office for 2 weeks. If I truly thought you would be valuable to my team then I would hire you on a 3 month probationary period (which I hear is pretty standard) WITH pay. If you think a hiring manager is considering the positive impact on his budget based on savings from 2 weeks salary from an entry level network engineer ($1000?) then I think you are mistaken. Hiring managers are tasked with building good teams, not pinching pennies.

I think by saying you will work for free for 2 weeks, you will just be confirming the hiring managers suspicion that you are a risk. Walk in with confidence and demonstrate your value. Put them at ease. They already know you have zero experience when they call you in for an interview. Close the deal with your confidence and technical ability.

StonedHitman

You make some fine points tprice5. Though, It's not like I'm going to be careless going into a network. I'm very serious about this and wouldn't dare mess around. But, I guess they wouldn't think that, so I see where your coming from. I can understand the legality part you mention. the probationary period you mentioned sounds nice though. But the thing is, as soon as they see no experience, they turn me down. So I can't even get an interview.

tprice5

You can offer but don't be surprised if everyone is not rushing to grab free labor. You are more likely to be a liability, both legally and technically, than to bring any value to the organization.

tprice5

Perhaps your resume needs work. Would you mind scrubbing the PII from it and posting it up to have it critiqued? There is a whole section for this on TE. While I don't personally frequent that area, there are many helpful individuals that would be happy to assist you.
I see you are in CA. Are you opened to relocating? Depending on what part of CA you are from, you could be in an area with a high saturation of available workers or simply lack of positions.
Do you have a LinkedIn?
Do you have a degree?

StonedHitman

I don't mind at all, I'll check out that forums for sure. Unfortunately, I don't drive atm so relocating may be a bit rough. I do have a LinkedIn, and I do not currently have a degree but am actually planning on going to college and taking up computer science in a few months hopefully.

Jon_Cisco

It is often said that the hardest part about getting into IT is getting the first job. The truth is the hardest part of getting into almost any industry is getting the first job. Don't let that discourage you. Nobody was ever born with experience yet the world is full of working people. Step back from the personal situation when evaluating things like this.

Lets say you use your two weeks to gain physical access to a device and determine the administrators network password.
How many companies have properly protected their systems from inside free labor?
When you remove the personal instincts you can see the risk.

My advice is take any job you can get while continuing to study. The reason this will help you advance is because most people do not use their free time to continue studying. That will give you an advantage when you do land your first opportunity.

beach5563

Here is my 2 cents worth. First of all congrats on the cert. You and I are opposites. I have been in IT for a while doing Telecom. Tech Support and all but I dont have a cert yet. Working on CCENT. That being said I also agree that maybe you should have your resume reviewed. You can also maybe google some free samples online of entry level network support techs. Regardless of that keep trying man. I dont know the area you are in so that may have something to do with it. Make sure you have your resume on Dice.com and monster.com. Maybe put the title as entry level Network Operations or Entry Level Network Supprt Tech. Stay in touch with the recruiters at I.T. staffing agencies and let them know what you are trying to do. Update your resume or shall I say Refresh it on those websites weekly. Trust me it can be done. Dont rule out stuff like Data Communications or Telecommunications too as a title on your resume. I'm no expert just saying pretty much what Ive done with no degree or Certification.

DCD

Get yourself a small lab and set it up and use it to connect to the outside world. While looking for a full time employment look for those one and two day project on craigslist to gain experience.

xnx

I have been lucky and got a long term placement at a school (small) where I've been given full control over the networking / server side to plan and implement any improvements and fix the odd end user issue.

It really depends on the person who accepts you onto a placement - I have very good formal qualifications but was lacking in the experience department and many organisations wouldn't take me on a 'college' included as I'd be a liability and also because some people are scared of having their jobs robbed..

IIIMaster

Are you still in school? If so speak to the network admin their to see if you can shadow him a couple days out the week. Also network with your Cisco instructor alot of times they are connected. I was stubborn when i finish my AAS. I did not attempt to network with anyone, I did not care about intern experience and heck after I got my cert my teacher offer to network me a job with Cisco selling routers. My mindset...nope do not want to sell routers... Huge mistake.

StonedHitman

IIIMaster wrote: »

Are you still in school? If so speak to the network admin their to see if you can shadow him a couple days out the week. Also network with your Cisco instructor alot of times they are connected. I was stubborn when i finish my AAS. I did not attempt to network with anyone, I did not care about intern experience and heck after I got my cert my teacher offer to network me a job with Cisco selling routers. My mindset...nope do not want to sell routers... Huge mistake.

Yes I am still in school, and that's a great idea, I'll look into that. Thanks for the suggestion.

TomkoTech

Why do you not drive? Is that playing a part in your lack of job offers? You are stating "once they see no experience", how do you know? Are they calling you and asking about your lack of experience?

Is your email address a professional email address? I can tell you that if it is "stonedhitman@blahblah.com" I am more than likely not giving you consideration for employment.

If you are seeking truly entry level positions, then your lack of experience shouldn't be that big of a deal.

MeanDrunkR2D2

What type of jobs are you applying for? If they are mid-level then you may run into some issues with the competition you are going against does have some experience in IT. You may want to look at a NOC as those are great jobs to get your foot in the door for the networking world.

StonedHitman

TomkoTech wrote: »

Why do you not drive? Is that playing a part in your lack of job offers? You are stating "once they see no experience", how do you know? Are they calling you and asking about your lack of experience?

Is your email address a professional email address? I can tell you that if it is "stonedhitman@blahblah.com" I am more than likely not giving you consideration for employment.

If you are seeking truly entry level positions, then your lack of experience shouldn't be that big of a deal.

Well, I guess it's cause I get nervous behind the wheel, the only thing I can think about is that I hope I don't hit someone. That and I just wasn't a very good driver. But I am starting to work on it. Making plans to stop by this driving school in my area. I haven't been asked about it yet. If the job is too far or they require a drivers license I pass on it.

I don't use any handles in my email address, just my name.

StonedHitman

MeanDrunkR2D2 wrote: »

What type of jobs are you applying for? If they are mid-level then you may run into some issues with the competition you are going against does have some experience in IT. You may want to look at a NOC as those are great jobs to get your foot in the door for the networking world.

I apply for jobs like network tech I or network monitoring. I have come across some NOC positions aswell.

Heero

StonedHitman wrote: »

You make some fine points tprice5. Though, It's not like I'm going to be careless going into a network. I'm very serious about this and wouldn't dare mess around. But, I guess they wouldn't think that, so I see where your coming from. I can understand the legality part you mention. the probationary period you mentioned sounds nice though. But the thing is, as soon as they see no experience, they turn me down. So I can't even get an interview.

From my experience, it isn't so much that you would purposefully do something careless, but more that you would do something you thought was correct without realizing a serious consequence of that action. It's maybe along the lines of "you don't know what you don't know" and would take an action without even realizing there were other things you needed to take into consideration first.

lsud00d

Look on Craigslist and other similar websites for local volunteering opportunities. Sometimes a local church or small school district might need help with design, installation, or configuration of network equipment.