curious newbie..

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Hello, newbie here!


About to start studying for my MCDST and N+ and then pray I can get my foot on the first rung, hopefully of many, of the towering IT ladder


I understand and strongly believe that building up my work experience will be the most important part of all, experience is far more important than higher level certifications. Having higher level certifications without the experience to back it up has a strong negative affect on getting into the IT industry as it shows you are over qualified with no/little experience. I am sure plenty of managers look at CV's and think to themselves that this person is simply paper qualified as the qualifications simply dont match the experience


I have been looking around many training centers and it seems to me that a lot of them just want you to part with your money (I wont mention any names, but I am sure people here know what I mean) and try and sell their CCNA course as part of some training package, but unfortunately for them, and luckily for me, I am not that naive and so quick to part with my cash!


When I pose them with the question that aren't jobs that involve you installing/configuring actual Cisco equipment in a live environment entrusted to techs who have proven experience and not to entry level Cisco techs ? they just start regurgitating some nonsensical sales pitch


Although it is my long term career aspiration to get into the world of Cisco and networking I understand that it will be some time before I can reach that goal and am prepared to work hard, study hard and importantly be patient


My questions to the more experienced and knowledgeable amongst this forumn as follows;

1) What should I, or any other newbie, be looking for and expect as a typical job role for a MCDST and N+?
I understand that this can vary from company to company as obviously even someone like myself with no experience can tell you that no two corporate networks are identical, but I am sure there must be some similarites as the same qualification can get you job with any company at an entry level

What sort of calls would I typically be dealing with on a regular daily basis ?
Can you give some examples please ?
What would an entry level tech be doing on a day-to-day basis ?

Also, lets say you have 18mnths-2yrs experience. How would that persons job role be different to a newbie's ?
what would the more experienced MCDST and/or N+ techie be doing regularly that the newbie would not ?


2) As mentioned my long term career aspiration is to get into the world of Cisco and networking. Obviously without the industry experience no company in their right mind will allow an unexperienced CCNA to start working on their networks configuring actual Cisco gear in a live production environment. If they did then I am pretty sure it wont be long before they got found out. But as I mentioned that is my LONG TERM career goal

If jobs that involve installing and configuring Cisco equipment in a live environment are only for the experienced techie's then exactly what would be a typical entry level job for a CCNA or someone wanting to get into networking ?

What would be the typical day-to-day duties or job role of an entry level CCNA at 1st line support level ?
Again, can you please give some typical examples ?
What were the network engineers here doing job wise when they got their first Cisco related job ?

I am just curious as to What a typical job role of an entry level 1st line CCNA/network engineer involves ?


Looking forward to your replys - Thank You

 

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To start with - welcome!

To answer your questions, all answers have to be taken with the understanding that LUCK plays a huge part in everything.

1) MCDST and N+ - both of which I have completed and learnt quite a bit from. I would say there is no atypical role for someone with any type of qualifications, but as you are new to IT I would have thought it would stand you in good stead for a 1st line telelphone support role - I started this way as many others have done before progressing once you gain experience or the company you are with have the forsight to notice your ability, have an opening and are willing to take you further (that is the LUCK bit).

Another route is by luck - a desktop support engineer or field engineer (titles vary with which way the wind is blowing) - but basically a simple basic technical job. This has the advantages of not being tied to the phones, but has the disadvantages of not being able to hone and fine tune skills like conflict management, patience with less abled users, and the ability to imagine what the screen they are seeing and how to guide them to their next button etc.

These are typical roles - some luck, some skill, some right place, right time.

2) I can't answer what a entry level job on Cisco would be with the correct knowledge. My guess would be simple patching of switches and ports, ensuring network connectivity to the servers/workstations/next switch, and possibly progressing to simple configuration changes ie, change such-a-such from "1" to "2" please.

How to get into it - I would hazard a guess that a good background of desktop/server support would again stand you in better stead than if you went straight into the role fresh from 1st line.

Pure guess on number 2 I'm afraid!

 

Hi derkit

having read some posts on this forumn I also was thinking 1st line telelphone support role
as an entry level position but was just curious as to what I should be expecting

thanks for the reply - much appreciated

 

Hi and welcome to the forum.

 

Hi dv-ant,

I can only give an answer for the first half of your question.

I was in a very similar situation when I have started my "career in IT" so when I have got my first Microsoft exam done I have applied for a few jobs and I decided to take any offer if there will be any.

First of all I have done six months voluntary IT support work for a company (15 hours a week) just to get some experience. I think it worth as much as any entry level qualification.

So I have got my first real job as a "phone Technical support person" (imagine I am not native English) in a small private company. The job was dead boring, but I have learned a lot of basic things and I was grateful because they gave me an opportunity to work for them and get some experience.
Usual daily duties:

-troubleshooting log-on issues
-troubleshooting log-on issues
-troubleshooting log-on issues
-checking backups
-sometimes imaging new machines
-sometimes restore from backups
-installing software remotely
-resetting passwords
-creating users
-and more log-on issues and forgotten passwords

Than the miracle happened:

I have got a job as a ICT Technician in a College, and it is a completely different world.
I am very happy indeed.
I think I am lucky because the Network Manager is a really nice chap and the whole atmosphere is really good.
I am happy to go to work every morning and I have to deal with a wide variety of things.
Usual daily duties:

-troubleshooting log-on issues ( the necessary evil)
-repairing PC's
-installing software
-installing hardware
-imaging new PC's and creating the image as well
-sometimes network cabling
-checking the backups and restore if needed
-drink coffee
-share my ideas and get advice
-Creating and managing User accounts in AD
-installing and troubleshooting printers
-ordering stuff and dealing with suppliers
-installing networking equipment
-stay at home when snowing

So all in all, do a lot of different jobs and learn a lot, which is great. And it is true that you need a little luck with it.

I hope I helped a little.

 

Hi kicsiburcsi

thanks for the reply and an insight into the sort of things I should be expecting
glad to hear to you got that all important foot on the ladder and landed yourself a job

Like the idea about voluntary IT support work, something I will definately look into
when I get to the point of applying for jobs, sounds like a good idea to get the experience
and am sure looks good on a CV - top marks for doing it

 

I would have, and still would do now, volunteering:

1) its good to help out anyway
2) I'm just about to start a system admin role, I'd love to volunteer to help a group/company out doing something similar for a while - again, good experience and looks great on the CV.

 

The voluntary work played a big part of getting a job and had a lot of questions about it on the interviews.
It makes your CV outstanding and also shows your enthusiasm.
I think we are going off topic...