Scott's point is very true! Motivation will help you go very far, much farther than certs/knowledge alone. As a soon to be college-grad, be ready for the initial disappointment, :-), even though you'll have your CCNP, you have no real experience, so you'll start at the entry level. That's not a bad thing, but you might see it as such. The reason it is good, is that while at the entry level (networking that is, I'm not talking about a helpdesk), you'll get to touch and interact with a lot of different things with very little "total" responsibility. As you impress your peers, this will trickle up towards management, and eventually work it's way out into better tasks and larger responsibilities (try to not get caught up in "the title"). I'm speaking from experience here, I'm a senior network engineer for a $2 B company, yet only 25 years old, currently working on my R/S CCIE purely for the learning experience. It took me nearly 4 years to move from an associate to a senior in my company, which is not common in that short of a time-frame for my employer, but that's where the motivation piece comes in -- expressing true passion, and learning things because "they are cool/interest you" will take you far. Learning on paper is what you're taught in college and it only works so far, but learning from hand-on, like the lab you've got built, is where you attain the knowledge/troubleshooting/experience that will help you succeed. A comment earlier in the thread mentioned "should I learn active directory/exchange"? I hear this a lot from our fellow associate's on the team.... and to be honest, if you are learning something just to add it to your resume, that will be a waste of your time. But, if you are learning it because you find it interesting or just want to explore, then by all means go deep into it. I personally go by the motto "go full in or don't go at all". So if I'm going to learn something, I'll get as deep as I can into it, and focus on just it for a little while, then I'll move to something else, and focus on just that. If you try to focus on too many separate things, you'll become this odd ball of knowledge that can't really hold you own -- a tip in the industry that will get you far: be able to take ownership, and fully run/own what you're working on. Regardless of level/title/role, a person who takes initive (within the scope/dynamic of their position), will go far. Best of luck to you, David. On Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 5:32 PM, Scott Weeks <surfer@mauigateway.com> wrote:
--- tyler.haske@gmail.com wrote: From: Tyler Haske <tyler.haske@gmail.com>
I'd love to have varied experience with a bunch of different companies, but first I'm trying to guarantee my first network engineering job out of college. -----------------------------------------------
You've already taken the first step. That step being you becoming more motivated than many of the other soon-to-be-graduates around you. This motivation will carry you a long way in your career. Who knows, you may be applying to someone here on this list one day...
scott