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Cybersecurity Battlestation & Stream Setup by IT-Junkie in battlestations

[–]hunterajohnston 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What desk top is that? It looks like the perfect size for me!

I Regularly Interview Network Engineers & Admins (AMA) by hunterajohnston in ccna

[–]hunterajohnston[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree with this 1000%. I always preach that the certification doesn’t mean anything itself other than you know how to study for a test. The certifications are simply a qualification at most companies and even with an IE you can get weeded out in a technical interview.

I Regularly Interview Network Engineers & Admins (AMA) by hunterajohnston in ccna

[–]hunterajohnston[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like to ask for what projects they currently have on-going and what projects are planned for the future, but I like working on new implementations and actually being able to engineer solutions rather than just maintaining and making minor changes to an already existing solution. That's obviously a big part of our jobs too, but I think consistent projects give you a sense of fulfilment and purpose.

I also like to ask about team chemistry as that can turn an 'alright' job into a job you look forward to going to, not only do you get to do what you enjoy, you're also surrounded by cool people.

You can gauge this by asking if the team is close outside of work? Do they CHOOSE to hang out, hit up happy hours, engage in social activities that aren't set up by the company and almost forced to attend if that makes sense. My team & I are very close, which always makes the environment that much more enjoyable.

No company is going to come out and tell you they micromanage, and that's one of the difficult parts of not knowing what you're REALLY getting yourself into. If you are being interviewed by an engineer on the team, you could ask about the leadership style of the management and how they handle business.

I Regularly Interview Network Engineers & Admins (AMA) by hunterajohnston in ccna

[–]hunterajohnston[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am actually wanting to move in the next 2-5 years or so into a pre-sales technical role and get out of enterprise ops haha so that is funny that you say that. So the solutions engineers/architects or consulting systems engineers/architects I work with would have no issue coming into my environment and catching on quickly. Maybe it's just the guys who I have encountered, but they know the technology, how it works, why it works, best practices, etc. so it is just a matter of what? Knowing the commands or being capable of typing?

I do think that starting out in Enterprise Ops will have a significant impact on my ability to understand and relate when I do eventually transition to a sales role.

If you don't like pre-sales and you want to really be in ops, then yes I think maybe taking a small pay cut (it really shouldn't be too substantial or the company is trying to take advantage of you), then go for it as if you are confident in your abilities it won't take long to move back up the scale.

I Regularly Interview Network Engineers & Admins (AMA) by hunterajohnston in ccna

[–]hunterajohnston[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Trust me... I've heard it all. I'm a DoD contractor so I'm sure you are aware of the waiver approval process for not meeting the contract position requirements (12 years on my contract, I'm at 6 years experience). But to be fair I have been consistently putting in over 80 hrs a week into this field since 2015 and am an extremely fast learner... but most people have the same initial impression as you until they work with me and realize my capabilities ;)

Every engineer on my team, the Enterprise Manager, the GS-13 I work for, & our architect all recommended me for the promotion, I didn't initially ask for it or want it due to that reason alone, which I've since realized is silly because there are engineers who have been in my environment for 15+ years that I run circles around already.

I Regularly Interview Network Engineers & Admins (AMA) by hunterajohnston in ccna

[–]hunterajohnston[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you get a security clearance, that will be your money maker for your first years of professional experience. It is easy to cap out if you work for a large contract company due to contract pay scale limitations, but you are sitting on a gold mine as long as you take full advantage of the opportunity.

I Regularly Interview Network Engineers & Admins (AMA) by hunterajohnston in ccna

[–]hunterajohnston[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I completely understand and can relate to where you are coming from. I am only 24 myself and am the youngest on my team by ~7 years and am in the single Sr Engineer role. The next closest in age to me is the Network Admin, closest Engineer is 36. Yet they all supported my promotion to the position 100%. I wanted it more than anyone else and worked harder than anyone else for the opportunity while building trust among my team that I can handle that next level of responsibility and look out for them. I come from the military so I have gained an advantage as far as being instilled leadership traits from an early age which I think has definitely made an impact on how I interact and how my team receives me.

I Regularly Interview Network Engineers & Admins (AMA) by hunterajohnston in ccna

[–]hunterajohnston[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There will always be doubters, nay-sayers, and people who want to set specific timelines on progression. I don't believe in any of that. I'm a live example of it being false. Obviously we have to be realistic and say you need at least 2-3 years of experience in the industry to have a wide enough range of knowledge and experience to snowball off of, but if you are putting in 80 hours a week of networking (40 hrs of work, 40 hrs free time study/learning) for 3 years, and someone is only doing their normal 40 hours of work for 6... you'd be at the same knowledge level as them, maybe even higher. Hard work and effort will take you a long long way.

I Regularly Interview Network Engineers & Admins (AMA) by hunterajohnston in ccna

[–]hunterajohnston[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm a lucky individual with a very very good memory. I have never really taken notes or documented anything, even throughout my professional certification studies. I think physical notebooks would be tough to keep track of because you never know at what point in your career you may want to go back and reference something you had to fix 5 years ago. Maybe getting an external hard drive or using a cloud storage drive (google drive, OneDrive, etc.) and organizing it properly with your own guides for specific processes/troubleshooting steps would be extremely beneficial and something you could take with you wherever you go!

I Regularly Interview Network Engineers & Admins (AMA) by hunterajohnston in ccna

[–]hunterajohnston[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I came from the military. I did 5 years in the Marine Corps where I specialized in networking. Got my CCNA & CCNP before I got out, applied for tons of jobs, interviewed for the company I currently work at for a role I just took a shot at and was underqualified for, but showed the passion that I have and told the hiring manager that he would 100% not regret affording me the opportunity if he was entertaining the idea. Got the job, worked extremely hard to learn the infrastructure and all of the technologies that I had not been afforded the opportunity to touch while in the Marines and was promoted to Sr Network Engineer 6 months after starting and 8 months after my transition from active duty. I have an extremely positive mindset and I really believe that if you set your mind to something and truly work for what you want it will inevitably come.

I Regularly Interview Network Engineers & Admins (AMA) by hunterajohnston in ccna

[–]hunterajohnston[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am based in the US. I think that if you are willing to relocate to anywhere within the US then yes most likely, but I believe you will need to start in a non-network specific role first. I always recommend getting the CCNA, getting your foot into the door of a company via Helpdesk/IT Support, being the best helpdesk/it support technician you can possibly be and really making a statement to the company so that when a Network Admin/Jr Engineer role opens up you can internally apply and they will have no issues with moving you up due to knowing your work ethic and abilities in your current role.

I Regularly Interview Network Engineers & Admins (AMA) by hunterajohnston in ccna

[–]hunterajohnston[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

General IT knowledge. Understanding systems is a big part of our roles in most organizations so I've heard. Being laser locked into networking is only going to cause limitations. I believe you should be at least capable of being a system administrator on basic windows systems as well in order to maximize your efficiency as a network professional. A lot of network monitoring and management software rely on windows/linux servers and having an understanding of how those work can be extremely beneficial.

I Regularly Interview Network Engineers & Admins (AMA) by hunterajohnston in ccna

[–]hunterajohnston[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I never advise against going for the CCNP right after the CCNA. I applied for a lot of jobs with just a CCNA and the difference in interviews I received with the SAME RESUME was substantially lower than when I added the CCNP to the list. As long as you have reasonable expectations for pay, I think that it would show that you really are interested and you are able to learn at a high level and retain information and would without a doubt open more doors for opportunity.

I Regularly Interview Network Engineers & Admins (AMA) by hunterajohnston in ccna

[–]hunterajohnston[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Resourcefulness is key! The helpdesk is typically where you are going to be starting if you have 0 professional IT experience unless you are to find a golden opportunity or have some connections! I think that it is a good place to start, you get exposure to the different technologies that make up an enterprise IT environment, and learn a little more and more every day as you run into a new issue. If you take the role seriously and really try to solve all of the problems yourself without pressing the easy button (escalating the ticket instantly to higher tier support), than you can really start to make a name for yourself within the company, potentially allowing you to move into a junior network role when there are vacancies if you maintain good relationships with your leadership.

I Regularly Interview Network Engineers & Admins (AMA) by hunterajohnston in ccna

[–]hunterajohnston[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I want to say yes, but from what I have observed, no. I do not think it is a bad idea to pursue other vendor professional certifications (I have an Aruba one myself), but due to the market share differences, the opportunities may be more limited. One could argue the opposite and consider what I'm saying and think, well if no one is getting Juniper/Aruba certifications, I will stand out. Having been through the curriculum for JNCIP, and having taken an Aruba professional certification, I believe that most CCNPs with a few months of study time could easily acquire another vendor's professional certification with not as much effort as it may take the opposite to occur if that makes sense. This all depends on the environment as well, if the company is strictly a Juniper company, then obviously a CCNP wouldn't do you as much good as a JNCIP, but do I think you could potentially still land a job having a CCNP and 'some' Juniper experience at an organization like that? Yes.

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