Do you guys like your jobs?

I posted a while back asking about Cisco certs.

I have a degree in EE, was a stay-at-home dad for the past 10 years, and I'm looking to get back to work. I thought I would shift gears and look into IT.

Looking at the jobs at Monster.com, many of the Network Engineer positions aren't what I thought they would be. I thought a Network Engineer was on par with a EE or ME, but many of the positions require only a high school education.

So I don't know which way to go. I love computers, learned to code as a kid, networking "black magic" fascinates me.

Is there a specific area of IT I should focus on given my background?

What kind of salary should I expect?

Reply to
Mitch
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Spend less time worrying about what kind of education you have, and more time worrying about what education you're going to need. There are many avenues you can take it. So start studying up, because it might not be as easy as you might think...

Reply to
CNAP

Are you sure these are Network Engineer positions that only require a HS diploma, or are they simply HelpDesk postions? A huge difference in pay and in experience and education.

While I feel the degree is quite useful, without any real world experience on live production networks, you really can't hope to start out in a great position.

I suggest you get some books to study networks, perhaps Microsoft and Cisco, get some pc's, setup a lab with some switches, and start there.

Good luck

Reply to
David Flores

I just don't want to get into the field with the wrong expectations. I'm trying to figure out what the various career paths are in IT.

Reply to
Mitch

Reply to
fugettaboutit

In my experience, deciding which way to go in the IT field is like being a doctor. You can't specialize in them all -- only one or two. It's just too complex now days. Sure, there will be people who can specialize in more than two arenas, and if you're up for that, go for it. But focus on one and build up upon that.

You'll find that the current job you're doing will require a certain skill set, and you'll be using that skill set while the others you know just linger in the back. Good luck.

Reply to
Ken Teague

I come from a similar background - degree in EE and came over to networking nearly 15 years ago where you actually needed some conceptual background to do this stuff. You are right in that back then, many "Network Engineers" were actual licensed engineers (people with a PE license). In those days we are talking about matching impedence on thin-net segments, 5-4-3 networks, vampire taps, etc. All of these things are gone today and with it much of the specialized education requirements. In the dotcom boom, we saw a radical shift in what is today called a "Network Engineer". Network Engineer's became nearly anyone who worked on computerized systems (system administrators, desktop support folks, and generally anyone who could spell the work 'engineer').

Unfortunately you are going to find that a lot has changed in the 10 years you have been out of work and it is going to be difficult work to get caught up. I have confidence that you can do it. First, if you are interested in "coding" you want to look at programming jobs. Nearly all of that has gone the direction of programming. Today's programming has some resemblence to ASIC programming so you would pick it up pretty quickly. Not too many kids coming out of high school which are proficient with programming. So your degree may open some doors and you'll find the starting pay is typically higher than doing networking (there are a lot of kids doing networking).

If you want to do networking, just be aware that any kid interested in computers in high school probably already knows some networking and will be stiff competition. This is why the starting salary's for networking people is around $10 - $15 / hr (adjust for your city & location, etc etc). A lot of kids coming out of high school today, do networking jobs while they are pursuing their college degrees (hey - it still pays more than what their friends are making at Pizza Hut).

If you don't mind EE, you might thinking of blending the two. I know that Intel (and others) are looking for people with EE backgrounds with interests in networking. This is huge $$ for them and they can't find enough qualified people to do the work. If you want to make some money starting out this might be a good place to look considering your background. Plus, if you decide to go full-time into networking you'll build experience at a higher pay rate.

Don't short change your degree. The fact that you know how this stuff works puts you miles ahead of many people in the industry. Just got to find the right job.

HTH, Joe

Reply to
gagznos_joe

Thanks a lot for your great reply!

So, given my background, what job titles should I be looking at if I'm searching Monster, CareerBuilder, etc.?

Reply to
Mitch

I would look for titles like "hardware engineer" or "hardware test engineer", etc. Within those jobs, then look for the ones that have major exposure or requirements for networking. In particular look for networking companies like Intel, Juniper, Cisco, Foundry, Sun Microsystems, IBM, Google, VMware, etc. These companies hire a lot of EE's that have or want networking skills. A lot of the ex DEC (Digital Electronics) people went to these companies (still great networking people with deep EE skillsets). Also check these company's website's for those jobs which are not posted on Monster, Dice, etc.

Good Luck, Joe

Reply to
gagznos_joe

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