Computer Networkers?

[Gill]

Are there any professional computer networkers here? I know practically nothing about this but career prospects in this line of work have suddenly (and surprisingly) opened up for me. Any advice about the career or courses that I might consider would be much appreciated.

Gill

 

[Steve Maskery]

Gill,

I have worked in IT since 1984. I was a partner in a PC/Cabling business for most of the90's and into the Noughties. We had some good years, several modest ones and a few were absolutely dire.

When we started we could install at £100 per point and be competitive. By the time I did my last project we were competing against people who were promising £25 per point. It meant we had to do 4x work to achieve the same turnover.

In the 90's it was mainly cabling older buildings restrospectively. Now it's mainly new builds, and you have to win contracts through main contractors. It's much, much harder.

It may be more profitable if you are also a security guru. I'm not.

In 2002 I decided to work at getting out of IT and into something else. Anything else, really. I went back to uni. I spent all my money on an MBA. What is an MBA? you ask. Good Q. Most people don't seem to have a clue. 2.5 years after graduating, I'm still applying for jobs. It's not that I've had NO work in that time, just not what I had in mind. My last boss died on me after just a few hours working together.

The last job I was offered was as a baggage handler at East Midlands Airport. £6.05 per hour. Actually that was not what I had in mind when I worked my doo-dahs off for an MBA.

If you want to work in networks, either infrastructure or software, go ahead. There will be a lot to learn, and it will change constantly. Personally, I lost interest in computers, per se ,yonks ago, and I have no desire to go back. Not that I could now.

I know as well as anyone does the sorry state of the job market for people who are experienced, talented, intelligent, mature (delete as applicable!), but with all my career woes, I wouldn't want to go back into IT any more than I would want to go back into teaching (1980-84). I have now decided that I may well have to work far away from Home. Mon-Fri in digs. Saturdays in the workshop. My friend Akram has a house and a wife in Nottingham. He has to work in Hampshire. It's not just down the road. And after two pay rises he is earning just £20K pa in a call centre.

I have another friend (I use the term loosely) who did the same course and is earning 11k USD PER MONTH. And that particular individual was the worst student (by far) in the year. There is no justice.

Am I bitter? Just a tad, maybe, as, strange as it may seem, GW does not pay me 11K per month.

Probably not what you wanted to hear.

Goodnight.
Steve

 

[Kane]

Depends on what you mean by networking - if there's a chance of getting a job where they'll train you and pay more than you get now give it a go. You may find that the job experience is worth more in the long term than the training but getting both can't be bad

 

[martyn2]

Hi Gill I got into IT after leaving the Air force 10 years ago, I stated by taking C&G in PC repair and got a job cleaning and repairing PCs and screens for resale. I was then offered a job in networking the firm landed a contract to install networks in retail outlets went on to take my MCSE (windows engineer) then did a CCNA routers (cisco) but my main area is an IBM AS400 a small mainframe (the best) and have about 6 qualifications in that area. The job can be very rewarding, frustrating, varied and very interesting there is always something new to learn but you need a lot of work has to be done out of hours firms don't like you taking there network down in working hours. you have said in other posts you studied to be a lawyer so reading up on all the latest developments wont be a problem .

Go for it you have nothing to lose ( but kept it quit from your friends and family or you will be plagued every time you/they visit .

if you need any help or information PM me and i will send you my contact details

hope this will be some help

all the best

Martyn

Ps this ust be my longets post ?

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Martyn

.....but my main area is an IBM AS400 a small mainframe (the best) and have about 6 qualifications in that area. ....

I've just done a quick mental count of the AS400's in my office, dead and alive, and it came to eight. :shock:

Cheers
Neil

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Gill

As Kane said, it depends on what you mean by computer networking.

Tell us more.

Cheers
Neil

 

[martyn2]

Hi Martyn

.....but my main area is an IBM AS400 a small mainframe (the best) and have about 6 qualifications in that area. ....

I've just done a quick mental count of the AS400's in my office, dead and alive, and it came to eight. :shock:

Cheers
Neil

only 8 down to about 7 now (all alive ) but use to look after loads and loads nice to see someone else know about them ?

martyn

 

[wizer]

don't do it Gill, the IT industry is as dull as dishwater!

 

[Gill]

Wow! Such good advice already – thanks guys .

My other half will be returning to full time education this autumn ('What? At his time of life', I hear you ask :lol: ) so our income is going to suffer. With this in mind, I ventured to see the same careers advisor who had done so much for him when he was made redundant last year. At the start of the session I had no idea about what sort of work would suit me but at the end of it she had come up with two options that she thought would be suitable; database administrator and network manager.

I know nothing about techy aspects of computers. However, I've got a close friend who does; she's a self-employed network systems manager for small/middle sized enterprises. She loves her work, especially the way she has to discuss the nature of varied businesses to find out what their needs are. Admittedly, she has to drum up her own business, but that's just part of the fun for her. I think I'd like that, too. She's suggested that I should consider taking the Microsoft Small Business Course 70-282 and she would help me to get qualified. In fact, she's offered to give me a full day tutorial in a couple of weeks time (which will no doubt get increasingly giggly as the day goes on \/ ).

That's the situation. As I said, I know very little about computers and I'm trying to gather as much information as possible to help me make an informed decision.

Gill

 

[martyn2]

go for it any course will help as i said let me know if you need anything

Martyn

 

[chiba]

database administrator and network manager.

As a manager in IT (banking), here's my two yen.

I'm surprised that these jobs were recommended, but I guess they're giving you an aiming point, rather than your next move, which is fair enough (neither are something you can just start out as). I've worked with people who've reengineered themselves into technical positions like these, and there are two definite camps.

1) People who get the paperwork and think that makes them a DBA, network guy, software engineer or what have you. These are a waste of space, and occasionally dangerous with it.

2) People who get the paperwork and realise how little they know, and who then pragmatically acquire experience through taking a few lower level jobs. These I like.

So, that's kind of my advice. That and choose Cisco, because there's a seriously organised career path there. Take a basic course or two, then try to find yourself a junior level job and apply it. Be a sponge, ask as many questions as you can get away with, do as wide a variety of things as you're allowed, and learn to take good, retrievable notes.You'll probably figure out what it is you enjoy the most, then you can take courses to target those specific areas and away you go. Don't just treat networks as a "job" type job - it's not, it's something you need to live and breathe to be really good at (nobody likes mediocre network guys - they should walk on water).

Remember - you don't have to be good at everything, but you do need to know what you know, which is a different thing altogether, and you probably won't learn that from books.

Five years, minimum. G'luck.

 

[kityuser]

i`d agree with whats already been said.

I`m a silicon design engineer (designing those little chip things).
I see a lot of "blaggers" in what I do. I prefer to stay to what I know and listen to those who specialise in different areas.

jack of all trades and all that......

I also see alot of IT people (basically thats what I do but on a VERY little scale). Varying degrees of knowledge and experience.

best thing I could suggest is start small and make sure you grasp the basic concepts completely.

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Gill

I don't work as an IT guy and never have. However, I have programmed, built, designed and used computers and industrial controllers for 18 years and now also teach people how to do it too.
I woud consider myself an exert in computing and computers (hardware and software) but networking is an area where I possess only modest knowledge and I find it the most frustrating and difficult area of computers to work with and hate it when a network has problems.

Unless you already have a sound knowledge and backgroound in computing already, I am quite surprised that you were pointed towards these two jobs.

Networking can be easy when everything just works as it should. When it goes wrong, you need in depth knowledge and a lot of experience (way beyond a short-course) to fix it in my experience.

I really hope whatever path you take works out.

 

[Kane]

don't do it Gill, the IT industry is as dull as dishwater!

True - I found it much more exciting working on the factory floor :roll:

If you can earn a living doing something you enjoy great but for the vast majority of us work provides the cash we need to live and not much else.

Kane

 

[Nick W]

OK, here's my 2 penn'orth.

IT is an industry that is in a state of permanent, rapid development, as such you have to be continually learning. Now, while learning new stuff is exciting and rewarding on many levels, I found that after a couple of decades, learning just to stand still, and having the skills you have gained becoming irrelevant in short order was ultimately soul destroying. It also means that experience in most areas counts for little (caveat general 'nous' (sp?), but that is very hard to quantify, and is therefore generally ignored by management).

I echo the comments made by others here that there are a lot of second raters in the industry, but that if you can become, and remain, one of the really good people you will be strongly in demand, even if you should become disillusioned.

So in the end I guess that what I am saying is that if you enjoy learning, and don't expect that to be a one off process, then go for it, otherwise run away.

 

[tim]

Gill

I know nothing about networking etc but I have to say that I have yet to meet or hear anything positive about career advisors. Most have little or no knowledge of real world work and suggest things that fit a few nebulous criteria. ie any good at numbers then all decisions will lean towards analysis etc etc; no good at numbers and all will lead to art driven options :roll: . They are imo no better than the tarot readers or psychics who tell you what you want to hear

At school they were next to useless IIRC I was supposed to be perfect for museum curation or librarian. Anyone who has ever met me will now be picking themselves off the floor with split sides. They never offer the unusual as ideas so I would suggest that you make a list of things that interest you and things that you are good at and see if when married together there is anything leaping off the page that you could be interested in doing for money. Trust me it can work - I ended up inventing new drinks for a decade and a friend of mine now runs a string of safari camps as a result of such a list!

I think you should still do the course anyway - what harm can it do. And most importantly, good luck.

Cheers

Tim

 

[beech1948]

Gill,

Others have focussed on IT and Networking and said a good many things which make sense. Not least of which is to quaify on something, take the junior jobs, learn, deep soak in all that you can and then jump off from there....I like that approach as there are too many self appointed gurus out there in IT land who are too little informed and dangerous to their clients.

An alternate view was spawned by the person who mentioned Careers Advisors....ouch...the thought was that knowing what you are good at and what others see in you could be a way to focus. Idea would be to seek a 360 degree feedback from folks you know...family, friends, fellow workers, your boss, others you meet.....the objective is to see what they think of you, what your good at, what less good at, what can you learn from their feedback.

By the way feedback is people telling you things about yourself BUT MUST be accompanied by examples they have observed. Without examples to support the feedback its just gossip.

Have fun

 

[Paul Chapman]

the thought was that knowing what you are good at and what others see in you could be a way to focus. Idea would be to seek a 360 degree feedback from folks you know...family, friends, fellow workers, your boss, others you meet.....the objective is to see what they think of you, what your good at, what less good at, what can you learn from their feedback.

I used 360 degree feedback when I was at work. It is an excellent technique, if used properly, and you can gain a lot of knowledge about yourself.

However, if you want the feedback to be accurate and really useful (ie you need to know the bad points as well as the good points about yourself) the process needs to be anonymous. Without this people are not going to be really frank and honest and the process will lose much of its usefulness. My advice would be to involve an impartial third party who could collate and anonymise the results.

Hope this is helpful

Paul