Job listing - Network / Security Engineer

On Sep 8, 11:21=A0am, Mitch@_._ wrote:


I am testing for my CCNA now.  I've completed the classes at the
College of DuPage in Illinois, USA.

I've had jobs in network and desktop support before in Silicon Valley,
CA making $52K per year but they are harder to get now without a
cert.  I am back in Illinois now too so that may have something to do
with the difficulty in getting a job compared to Silicon Valley, CA.
The last job that I had in Silicon Valley I was on a network and
telecommunications redevelopment project that included everything from
the CAT5e cabling through the Cisco switches and routers.  I also did
Microsoft and Linux support and built the 75 systems that the business
used .... unbox the systems, installed the desktop or server
applications, rolled them out and serviced them.

The first thing they ask you when you apply for employment now is if
you have a certificate.  I do not know how to get a job without one
anymore and I have been out of work getting the certificate.  I do not
know if it is possible at all to get a decent job if you are trying to
make $50k per year or better....in my geographical location.  The work
when I had a job in IT was not that difficult....a few weeks of very
boring stuff, punctuated by a rash of hard or difficult tasks that
might last a day to a week.

The certificate is the easy way out for businesses....it is a "weed
out."  I should have been able to get a job without a certificate
given I might not need one for most jobs.  That said, there are pure
network support jobs where having a certificate would be beneficial.
It all depends on what type of opening you are going for.

I am going to take my test in about two weeks.  If I pass I am going
for a pure network support, network installation opening given that is
where I would be able to put it together the most.  If I don't get a
job immediately I am going to either take more Cisco classes or start
in on the MCSE.

QuadZeroRoute wrote:[snip]



You know, I've actually hired quite a few number of people in the past
5 years.  Some as interviewer, some who work for me directly, some just
as a "interviewing consultant"  In all that time, I have *never ever*
asked for certification(s).

Certs are good, certs with experience is better.  The questions I ask
were always standard (none of this fly by the seat of the pants stuff)
and fair.  But some were open ended enough that people who really knew
his/her stuff could expand on it.

So don't despair, there are hiring managers out there who aren't caught
up 100% in certs.



--

hsb


"Somehow I imagined this experience would be more rewarding" Calvin
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