What type of job should I be applying for?

Hi, I have only ever really worked for myself but I'm starting to realise for security and more money I need to be in an organisation now. My question is with my qualifications, what type of networking job should I be looking to get into or apply for first. My relevant qualifications are:
Bsc Computer Science
CCNA Routing
Comptia Network+

I don't know if it matters but I'm 26 as well. I'm not quite sure what type of roles I should be going for first in all honesty.

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Comments

TheFORCE

What type of work were you doing when working for yourself? What do you enjoy doing? How about you start from there?

Robbo777

Only mainly computer technician work (building machines, repairing them, diagnosing faults), just used it to pay for my studies etc...
Am just not sure what type of roles i should start off applying for to be honest with the qualifications i have i would love to get into Cisco networking, something along those lines.
What type of roles would you say I can apply for and ones that I dont have enough either qualifications or experience for?

scaredoftests

Robbo777 wrote: »

Hi, I have only ever really worked for myself but I'm starting to realise for security and more money I need to be in an organisation now. My question is with my qualifications, what type of networking job should I be looking to get into or apply for first. My relevant qualifications are:
Bsc Computer Science
CCNA Routing
Comptia Network+

I don't know if it matters but I'm 26 as well. I'm not quite sure what type of roles I should be going for first in all honesty.

It does not matter what age you are!! Apply for any job you think you are qualified for..

kohr-ah

Based on your certifications I am guessing you either like networking or it was needed for your degree.

If you enjoy Networking start looking for NOC jobs. Network Engineer jobs (or Junior Network Engineer jobs) that have lower experience requirements. Dont worry if you dont meet the requirements. Why would we want to go to a job we can already do?

Windows guy? Systems administrator (Junior, etc). Then from here branch to virtualization.

actionhank1786

Robbo777 wrote: »

Only mainly computer technician work (building machines, repairing them, diagnosing faults), just used it to pay for my studies etc...
Am just not sure what type of roles i should start off applying for to be honest with the qualifications i have i would love to get into Cisco networking, something along those lines.
What type of roles would you say I can apply for and ones that I dont have enough either qualifications or experience for?

I imagine the best chance might be entry level just to get 'real world' experience under your belt.
It seems that a lot of organizations consider at home/certification work to be something that is good as a foundation, but doesn't quite equal experience that most places are looking for in terms of higher positions.

That said, I think the DIY attitude, and using it to pay for your studies would look great, as it shows that you're organized and motivated. I think that will give you a leg up over others applying, and then you can use your position there to slowly work your way up in responsibility and eventually either get promoted in the company, or gain the ability to get a "promotion" at another company.

I'm in a similar boat. I had experience working with computers, I had fixed my own, helped my Mom, and built a handful. But, there was so much I hadn't experienced. I was studying for my A+ Certification when my friend said his aunt had a company that needed someone for data entry, and would also need the occasional hand with the IT side of things. When I started they were a company of about 20 people, and maybe 3 printers. I believe (I didn't have access to any of it back them) that we had one server running Server 2003 SBS, which I believe housed our e-mail and Active Directory.

In the 3 years since then, I've been with the company and moved to full-time IT. I'm still a "Junior" IT Admin, doing mostly helpdesk, but I honestly have to get my hands dirty with everything. While our current setup is far from ideal (I still don't really get say in what we do or how we do it...) but it's grown exponentially. We now have over 110 users, I think we've moved up to about 20 printers that I've learned to take apart and service in those years, we've got 4 physical servers, and about 7 virtual ones, and we moved from our old "dumb" switches to 6 Cisco small business switches, and a VOIP phone system to go with it.

I've been focusing on my MCSA with the hopes if being able to move up, after getting access to the servers a few years ago, I realized I really liked working with them. I was studying for my CCNA at one point a little while after I first started, but I just couldn't get interested in it. The brief networking experience I got from it really helped with the few issues we've had pop-up with our Cisco switches, and with our networking in general, but I just preferred the server side.

I guess the point of my post is that you might have to start lower than you're hoping to, but with the right conditions you can experience on all sorts of things. Before starting here, I'd never seen a server, didn't know you could network a printer (I just assumed there were miles of USB cables going around, I guess...) and had never seen a switch or equipment rack. Since then, I've handled (Just this week...) ripping out and replacing a fuser in an HP3015, diagnosing and fixing a Cisco switch that cut an entire suite of 14 people off from the network, and just yesterday, an Application server that stopped working and dropped all 110 people out of the program in the middle of the afternoon. It can be stressful, but it's never dull.

Edit Completely missed the qualification (I woke up about 20 minutes ago, sorry. It looks like you might prefer the network side of things. If that's the case, maybe follow Kohr-Ah's advice and go with the entry level network jobs. I don't know if you've got a home lab (how the hell did people get certified in anything before home labs were this affordable?) but if so, it might be worth mentioning in cover letters or interviews.

Robbo777

kohr-ah wrote: »

Based on your certifications I am guessing you either like networking or it was needed for your degree.

If you enjoy Networking start looking for NOC jobs. Network Engineer jobs (or Junior Network Engineer jobs) that have lower experience requirements. Dont worry if you dont meet the requirements. Why would we want to go to a job we can already do?

Windows guy? Systems administrator (Junior, etc). Then from here branch to virtualization.

Yes i enjoy networking, I'm just worried that on paper they'll see that i dont have as much experience in it but dont know that I'm more than capable.

kohr-ah

Robbo777 wrote: »

Yes i enjoy networking, I'm just worried that on paper they'll see that i dont have as much experience in it but dont know that I'm more than capable.

Sell yourself to them.
Show them how much you know. How much you love doing it.
All you have to do is get the interview. The rest is up to you.