On 22/11/11 03:09, Tyler Haske wrote:
I really appreciate the specific insights offered by Keegan and Valdis.
- Linking me places to apply for jobs doesn't help. I'm aware of who is considered Tier I, and how to find their website.
Don't limit yourself to Tier 1's on the outset. A lot of Network Engineers have worked at least a couple of engineering roles before landing the one that best suits them. Companies usually want to hire experience. That experience coming from as many varied places as possible, actually has some value. In my own case, aside from pure bit-pushing I have had retail sales (electronics sector), technical support, sales, pre-sales and design experience as well as the hands-on engineering of supporting infrastructure (datacentre & rack environments, electricity and environmental systems exposure, plus Layer 1-4+...) The disadvantage in angling directly to Tier 1 and working your way up within that organisation will be the potential lack of diversity in your experience. The best thing you can do (IMHO) in lieu of moving to a network-hub city for your hunt, is get your foot in the door with a company that has a significant need for input at the network level, that can help you get your start in terms of hands-on exposure to network operations and management. It'll give you some real-world perspective and it'll provide some of the experience that people will be looking for when reviewing your CV. If you have that, are visibly keen, flexible and continue to (visibly) develop your talents as an engineer, you'll never struggle for work. You can pidgeon-hole yourself pretty quickly if you narrow your skill-focus too far. Mark. PS: Accepted i'm not in the US, so YMMV, but nothing i'm saying strikes me as generically unreasonable.