Thinking of jumping into networking as a possible career path, what is good to know?

[coolred]

I am about to go back to school, I am leaning towards Networking as a major. I know obviously I should take all the needed networking classes. Any other useful stuff to know, specifically leaning towards Info Sec.

Like for instance Web or HTML classes, or maybe some programming, or databasing. Any others?

 

[futuristicmonkey]

If it fits, plug it in.

 

[TMPadmin]

Remember, everyone out there knows better than you. But nobody really knows how to do anything. At least that's the frustration I'm running into on my latest contract.

 

[Garion]

IMHO, the way to get into the biz is to start as a low-level generalist and start to become more specialized, learning as you go.

For example, get a job working the Helpdesk for a medium-sized company (500-2,000 users). They get to do a bit of everything and learn a lot about how large companies work and how technology integrates together. Even more importantly, you can learn what you like and dislike. You might find that you hate servers but like dealing with Internet access or classic networking (routers/switches/firewalls, etc.). Start to become the "helpdesk expert" and focus on what you like and watch for an opening to move into that department. From there, you can graduate to something more specialized ("the firewall guy") or move to a more senior position in a different company with more potential for growth. Repeat until you're where you want to be.

One other GREAT place to learn is to work for a system integrator or a company that installs and maintains small networks. You get to do just about everything and are hands-on all the time with a lot of great senior people to learn from. There's no better way to learn how things work than to see it done time after time and how different companies use their networks. It provides a great, diverse background and is a lot of fun.

Not to brag too much, but this is exactly what I did (with a programming-focused bachelor's degree) and I'm in a very good position now, highly specialized and working for a very large company. Awesome job, good pay, great toys to play with.

- G

 

[coolred]

Um okay, thats sounds good, I have been looking for a job in a related field for a while now.


But about the actual degree i was wondering if some thinsg where better to know then others. For instance, one class they have me taking is an MS Access class, would I be better off taking an oracle related DB class? What about programming, I don't want to go overboard, but would like to know a little bit of programming, which type would be most beneficial to someone in the networking/InfoSec field? They also offer some HTML, and other web classes. Would some of those be helpful, since I assume many networks are connected to the internet. Or will my networking classes teach me enough to not have to worry about that?

 

[n0cmonkey]

Routing, switching, and tcp/ip basics are all good. Firewalling, IDS, etc. are good for IA.

 

[spidey07]

If you wanna be a hardcore network geek then spend all of your time on EE and TCP/IP.

programming is next to useless except for scripting.

 

[coolred]

Originally posted by: spidey07
If you wanna be a hardcore network geek then spend all of your time on EE and TCP/IP.

programming is next to useless except for scripting.

EE? Electronic Engineering? Whats that have to do with networking?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: coolred

Originally posted by: spidey07
If you wanna be a hardcore network geek then spend all of your time on EE and TCP/IP.

programming is next to useless except for scripting.

EE? Electronic Engineering? Whats that have to do with networking?

clocking, multiplexing, timing, framing, bit level instructtion, fragmentation/reassembly, calculating serialization delay and latency?

-edit- basically forming the foundation of understanding. Going through the motions and exercises of "black box" - bit level manipulating of what goes-into what-goes-outof. A through understanding of bit level arithmatic is crucial to being a good network guy.

Its not necesarily a requirement, just a really, really good idea.

-ps- in reality networking is all EE.

 

[toleraen]

I'm graduating in 3 weeks with a B.S. in Telecommunications Systems (Data networking), so here's my take. Make sure there is a good mix of classes, not just strict network based Cisco classes. While it's all good and dandy leaving school with a CCNP, from the interviewing i've done it doesn't mean a whole lot. Make sure you get some system admin classes (*nix / Windows server) classes, network design classes, etc. A few programming classes couldn't hurt, it at least looks good on a resume. Access would largely be useless, from what I'm told. See if the program places high importance on internships/coops/capstone projects, since real world experience would be key. If possible, put off the advanced networking classes towards the end, since that's always changing, and that's the material you really don't want to forget. I really recommend getting a good mix, unless you really want to specialize in data networks. It'll open up more opportunities when you graduate.

If possible, talk to the students in the major, see how they like it. If you talked to any student in my major right now, they'd tell you to stay the heck away. Look into placement statistics of the school, not just the percent. Last year for our major, only 25% of the students that graduated actually got a job in networking. Really look into it, and get some actual feedback on the program, not just whatever they're trying to market to you.

 

[Garion]

Originally posted by: spidey07
If you wanna be a hardcore network geek then spend all of your time on EE and TCP/IP.

programming is next to useless except for scripting.

I wouldn't go THAT far - There's a lot of data analysis and scripting that needs to occur in a lot of areas of networking. Security is definitely one of those - Analyzing log files, etc. requires a fair amount of scripting unless you have off-the-shelf tools that do it for you (which are usually very expensive). Solid scripting tools and the ability to write decent perl code NEVER goes to waste.

- G

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Garion

Originally posted by: spidey07
If you wanna be a hardcore network geek then spend all of your time on EE and TCP/IP.

programming is next to useless except for scripting.

I wouldn't go THAT far - There's a lot of data analysis and scripting that needs to occur in a lot of areas of networking. Security is definitely one of those - Analyzing log files, etc. requires a fair amount of scripting unless you have off-the-shelf tools that do it for you (which are usually very expensive). Solid scripting tools and the ability to write decent perl code NEVER goes to waste.

- G

absolutely.

that's kinda what I meant. PERL can go a long way in the field.