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Hey STW,
I'm approaching the end of my degree (Computer Network Technology) therefore I've been planning the next 60 years of my working life. What I'm looking for is advice on what path they would take if they could be in my position again!
I've looked at graduate schemes and they really appeal to me, due to the training and specific route they would hopefully provide. The only problem I find with these are they they seem very 'businessy' and not very technically oriented. I then find that because of this you do not require a "technical" degree, therefore I feel my application would suffer at the merciless hands of HR.
I've tried to look for specific roles and although I have 2 years support experience I don't have all of the technical skills which are required for the job (the reason why I like the sound of a graduate scheme).
[b]TL;DR[/b]
Any advice guys, what would you all do if you were fresh out of uni with a Network Technology degree?
Thanks in advance!
What does your 2 years of support experience entail - what were you supoorting/what level/how many users/what sort of organisation ?
do the cisco quals
If I'd just finished Uni I'd take a year out and drink lots of beer/ride my bike a great deal.
Your welcome.
The networking industry is huge and with more businesses moving their hardware offsite into data centres, SDN coming in and increased security of wifi, there are loads of opportunities to specialise in a particular area.
I've noticed a large number of companies outsourcing their network support to the likes of BT, Capita etc. Many of them will want the experience you are seeing.
If you want some details of a technical graduate scheme then drop me a note and I can pass on the info. You would be dealing with many departments (Unix, Telephony, Networks ....) but at least you would get exposure to lots of different skills/areas. You would have to relocate though based on your profile.
I recommend also considering service desk level jobs where you can gain on the job experience, work out what you enjoy or are good at(usually the same thing) and work your way up.
Feel free to send me a message for any info.
sandwicheater - Member
If I'd just finished Uni I'd take a year out and drink lots of beer/ride my bike a great deal.Your welcome.
This would be perfect, however, me and my girlfriend have plans which this would heavily disrupt!
If I'd just finished Uni I'd take a year out and drink lots of beer/ride my bike a great deal.
That's what he's been doing that for the last 3 years.
Another vote for cisco qualifications.
I have a Computer Networks degree. I suppose it depends what you want to do. But I'd recommend taking a job for a company known for great technology. I went straight from uni into Sun Microsystems, RIP 😥 and got exposed to lots of cool stuff, learned more in my first 12months than I did at Uni. It wasn't a grad scheme though. FWIW, networks has never been my primary role professionally, so don't limit yourself unless you're absolutely sure that's the route you want to take.
Edit: MrGrim +1
cranberry - Member
What does your 2 years of support experience entail - what were you supoorting/what level/how many users/what sort of organisation ?
I've had 1 year doing helpdesk support at a college of ~2000 students+staff in a team of 6. We had a new building built so I got to move and install hardware, patch into switches etc. I didn't have much responsibility but I was straight out of college and the team taught me a LOT.
My second year was at a high school where I had more responsibility, AD/WEB/Windows admin/backups/Switch+patching/Imaging services/support, The list goes on as I basically supported anything with a plug attached! It was a small team (me and the network manager), again I learnt a lot from him.
As much as I enjoyed working at the school I wouldn't particularly choose to work at another, the lack of funding for equipment was absolutely atrocious.
Having come from a school/LA background I wouldn't go that way if I was you, especially if you ever want to move to corporate, it's a big step across unless you have specific skills that are needed. The corporate world just don't like education jobs on your CV.
I'd be looking to move in to a role that will give you some broad experience of a corporate IT world which will let you see if there is one thing you're either naturally good at or enjoy more than the others before choosing a specialty. I know a few who have just gone the Cisco route as it normally brings in good money but hate the sight of a command line now.
Plus general support experience will broaden your CV and backup the degree.
MrGrim - Member
Feel free to send me a message for any info.
MrGrim - Where abouts would this relocation be? *pleasedontsaylondon*
MrGrim - Where abouts would this relocation be? *pleasedontsaylondon*
Scotland or London
somouk - Member
Having come from a school/LA background I wouldn't go that way if I was you, especially if you ever want to move to corporate, it's a big step across unless you have specific skills that are needed. The corporate world just don't like education jobs on your CV.I'd be looking to move in to a role that will give you some broad experience of a corporate IT world which will let you see if there is one thing you're either naturally good at or enjoy more than the others before choosing a specialty. I know a few who have just gone the Cisco route as it normally brings in good money but hate the sight of a command line now.
Plus general support experience will broaden your CV and backup the degree.
Thanks somouk! They were great experiences though, like you said I am working to hopefully go into a company.
Cisco certifications not a bad idea, but they're not quite as scarce as they once were. Security is a big concern for most companies now, so starting on an IT security track would be a good idea IMO.
A lot of the 'good' jobs in the sector seem to be in London or the M4 corridor though 🙁
The only
problem I find with these are they they seem very
'businessy' and not very technically oriented.
Welcome to IT 🙂
Your background will always be useful but with so much it going abroad or virtual, I would suggest that from a long term perspective, the businnessy skills are the ones that will be needed to really progress.
What are your long term goals? To stay technical or management?
If the former, I would suggest looking for a role that's going to get you desirable technical experience and skills, not just bog standard desk top/server/infrastructure support ones which are easy to outsource and common as muck.
If the latter, the graduate schemes are perfect for getting you on that path.
If the former, I would suggest looking for a role that's going to get you desirable technical experience and skills, not just bog standard desk top/server/infrastructure support ones which are easy to outsource and common as muck.
I would like to be in management but I'm not all for the project management side of things. What I'd like to do is be in a technical role and work my way up, rather than lose all that I've trained for and made my passion to become a project manager, I think my ultimate goal is most probably consultancy/solutions architect.
I would Cisco (or similar) certify and then specialise in a focus area, say IaaS/Cloud or network security - this would make you marketable. I'm in a very senior role with the IT Consultancy practice of a big four firm and there are a number of avenues for those skills; data centre strategy/deployment, right-sourcing, architecture, project implementation/rescue and pure advisory/strategy work.
You won't avoid the business end of things as you'll need commercial and contract skills too - most of the work you'll do will need to be £££'s savvy.
Despite leading a lot of work in this area - whether as a consultant, CTO, CIO or Architect there is no substitute for contemporary technical understanding. Build a base knowledge in a tech consultancy / systems integrator (Cap Gemini / Accenture / IBM / etc.) or go work for a Telecomms provider (BT / Vodafone / O2 / etc.) and then move on.
Don't think of being anywhere more than 2-3 years initially as you need to use each role as a stepping stone to the next one.
If I were doing it all again?
I'd move a lot more. Never more than three years in one role, always look to move up a tier at each move. Staying in s technical role for too long has held meback.
Do the technical stuff quickly, get your experience, move onwards.
That'd be my advice. Cisco is good, network security is good, next generation firewalls is big right now. Cloud computing and mobile computing is going to be huge for st least the next five to ten years.
First question, and forgive my ignorance, what is a computer network technology degree?
Now, to the meat of the matter. Virtualisation, DevOps etc mean that building networks will become much, much more of a [i]software[/i] exercise over the next decade. If you're not already, skill up in Chef, Puppet etc.
Frankly, I'm a pretty firm believer that "software is the new literacy" by the end of my working life (I'm 33) and certainly yours I think most (all) developer/support/network engineer tech jobs will be perceived as the trades are today.