**Calling All Network Admins**

A

Aslander

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 16, 2005
Messages
181
Hello all, I am a college student in need of a favor for a CIS class that I am taking. The professor wants me to survey people in a specific job that I am interested in.

If you could spare a couple minutes and answer any or all of the questions below and PM them to me or post here, I would greatly appreciate it.

___________________________________________________

  • What was your major?
  • Briefly describe your career path since graduation
  • What is your current position and how long have you been with your employer?
  • What are the main responsibilities of your position?
  • What do you enjoy most about your job?
  • What do you find most challenging about your job?
  • Briefly describe your typical work week.
  • What job search methods did you use to obtain your current position?
  • What advise would you give to students interested in your field?
____________________________________________________

I appreciate any answers that you all could provide for me, they will only be used to help compile a research paper on the career field of the Network Admin. :)

EDIT: GREAT RESPONSES EVERYONE! KEEP THEM COMING AND I WILL ALSO TRY TO CREATE A FAQ FROM THIS DATA FOR THE FORUM SOON!
 
1. I'm a business IS major(still in school) who does consulting for an IT company. I'm the network admin for a bunch of companies.
2. I quit my other job and got picked up talking to the owner of the company(I knew him before hand)
3. Been with the company over a year now. Network admin.
4. Everything IT related. I can go to a place to replace batteries in a keyboard or to rebuild a dead server. Data recovery, network diags, etc.
5. The challenge
6. The scope of things. One day I'm working on a active directory issue somewhere, next day I'm diaging vpn issues with an apple, day after that I'm fixing a notebook someone dropped.
7. My week starts monday morning around 9:30 or so unless I know I have to be doing something earler. Most days it ends around 5ish if I don't have class or something. Things go wrong it goes into the night. Also I do a lot of things at night anyway like server work(remote most of the time), rebuild systems, network updates(have keys to may clients), etc.
8. Already covered that I think.
9. Try to intern with a company to get real world experience. Certs may get your feet in a door but they don't mean shit if you haven't done the work before. Be honest and be willing to say you don't know something. Also don't be afriad to ask for help. Last thing you want is for someone to tell you to put a new domain controller on the network that you have to build from scratch and you not know what you are doing(ie you need to prep old domain controllers even 2k3 ones for 2k3 r2 servers).
 
Thank you, hopefully you will get the ball rolling with responses from other people too. I appreciate taking the time to answer these. It is going to a good cause.
 
Should mention that a few of my friends started out in help desk for companies and would take on anything. I mean anything. They would volunteer to be the one to stay late and upgrade servers or trouble shoot the exchange server issue. Overtime was nice or extra days off depending on how the company worked. As soon as a position opened up for a higher up place they would go for it. Since they had already been doing the work they got them. One of them is now in charge of the help desk(which is only like 4 or 5 people) and is a database admin for one of their apps. Worked out pretty good for him.
 
1) No major. Did Herzing for a year, all be it I had a ton of hands on knowledge before I started

2) Im at my 1st real job. Got it from an intership with the same company. The network admin quit 3 months into my intership, and now Im running everything.

3) Currently the "Network Coordinator", and have been with the company for ~6 months (3 + 3)

4) I do everything from supporting the retail stores, to ordering/fixing computers to network setup and management. My tasks im working on currently are a complete rewrite of the DNS structure, group membership, and upgrading to a 2003 domain

5) The people are fun to work with, and everyone's young.

6) Dealing with the politics. Outside consultants sit on the CEO's shoulder and tell him what the company needs. Always way over the top. Altho they sometime talk a good game plan, when it comes to getting it done, it always takes longer and costs more. I have never seen them do something right on the 1st try.

7) Start at 8:00 on Monday. Make sure the weekend jobs processed normally and everyone's reports are okay. The last 2 weeks I have been setting up a new retail store, so building the POS's, and store severs, etc. Conf'ing Juniper netscreen's, general support. The biggest issue I see over and over again are "Circular References" in Excel. Users are dumb

8) Got the job from my intership. Got the intership from my school

9) Don't work at a company that does Retail Sales. Stay away from IBM AS400 mainframes/iSeries. Have whoever you report to write out what your responsibilities include before you agree to start
 
What was your major? - pastoral ministry. how the hell did i get into computers wtf?

Briefly describe your career path since graduation - i started working at best buy while i was in college. went from computer sales, to computer repair. started running large lan parties (75-100) players, and one of my players was the owner of a network infrastructure company, and they needed an integrator to handle contract jobs. they snapped me up and put me to work around dallas for a year. the jobs slowed down, and they couldnt afford to keep me on anymore, so the president hooked me up with another local integration company (but unfortunatly had to let me go). from there, they contracted me to the company i work for now. the head admin resigned while i was contracting, and i had shown my muster and got the position. turmoil over the companies breech of contract ensued (for propositioning me with a full time position) but they paid my contract out and ive been there ever since.

What is your current position and how long have you been with your employer? Operations Supervisor, im about to complete my 6th year with them.

What are the main responsibilities of your position? manage and monitor our data centers across our brands in the USA. server installs, data backups and disaster recoveries. i also administer our lotus notes email system as well as supervise 2 other individuals.

What do you enjoy most about your job? teeth clenching disaster recoveries. im indiana jones when it comes to dead servers. i work best hunder high tension, and 99% of the time i nail it on the first attempt.

What do you find most challenging about your job? CEOs. out company has a million of them, and they are all primadonnas. surprising when i have to explain to them what SOX is and why they cant just do what they want with their own data anymore.

Briefly describe your typical work week. arrive at the office at 8am. change the tapes on a derilict HP3000 system that i wish would die (but wont... gee thanks HP for making the greatest data center systems in the world... really appreciate that...). walk the server racks and check for failed disks or other amber lights that should normally be green. go on upstairs to my desk, and open the ticket system to see if there are any down systems (uaually lotus notes mail hung up or an SQL/Soldfusion server hung up). check for any failed or missed backups from the night previous. after that, i fuck off and pretty much spend the rest of the day VPN'd into my firewall at home playing around with my BSD systems.

What job search methods did you use to obtain your current position? none. ive been very fortunatly that ive not had to interview for my last 3 jobs. they all came to be based on skills that ive displayed in action.

What advise would you give to students interested in your field? finish your degree at all costs!!! i did not. even tho my degree would not have anything to do with my current carreer, it would still make my life a lot easier when it came to calling my shots when it comes to pay checks. im doing well now, but i would have started a lot higher if i had a degree, im sure of it. also, carrying a degree around would make job-hopping a lot more profitiable (i feel). i would have been earning what i earn now, if i could have hopped aroud a bit when i was first getting started. i didnt, becuase i felt that not having a degree put me at a market disadvantage. FINISH YOUR DEGREE AND CALL YOUR SHOTS. nuff said.
 
Sharaz Jek said:
ive been very fortunatly that ive not had to interview for my last 3 jobs. they all came to be based on skills that ive displayed in action.
Click to expand...

Yea my job now I didn't interview for either. I was talking with my boss one day(knew him as I took a class of his at school). He was asking me how it was going with work and I told him I just quit my job. He said he prob had some extra work that he could use help with and to talk to him like the following week, I met up with him and met with one of the other guys and asked when I could start. He told me he was going to pay me $XX.00 and hour and I've been with them since then.
 
- B.S. of Telecommunications Management

-Low level network administrator(more so desktop support), moved into Jr. Network administrator position....learned a lot about networking and servers, moved into a Sr. Desktop Support role....hated it....installing XP over and over....very boring,but picked up a few tricks...now I'm an IT Analyst(more networked based ie: WLAN switches, Layer 3 switches, servers, etc.

-What is your current position and how long have you been with your employer?IT Analyst - 14 months

-What are the main responsibilities of your position?WLAN, servers, tape backups, switches,

-What do you enjoy most about your job?The freedom to make decisions, variety of technologies that I get to work with(I just wish that 15% of my job wasn't desktop support).

-What do you find most challenging about your job? The political games and getting upper management to see why we should do IT things differently. Doing something just because it "just works" is not always the right answer. DO IT CORRECTLY OR DO NOT DO IT AT ALL.

-Briefly describe your typical work week. Monday, fix a failed hard drive, Tuesday, create a VLAN, Wednesday, show a user how to create a signature in Outlook, Thursday create a network diagram for a WLAN and tie it into the LAN at that site, Friday, surf the web

-What job search methods did you use to obtain your current position?Monster.com

-What advise would you give to students interested in your field? Realize that you don't know it all. Be humble... Because you know Java, built your own computer, run linux at home, or speak techy talk doesn't mean you know how to demote an AD server, create a VLAN, troubleshoot Exchange, push out software via SMS or GP. You're the new guy...keep your mouth shut and your ears open. You're the new guy know matter what. You're the new guy until the company hires someone else, even if that is 5 years.
 
JayAre said:
- B.S. of Telecommunications Management

-Low level network administrator(more so desktop support), moved into Jr. Network administrator position....learned a lot about networking and servers, moved into a Sr. Desktop Support role....hated it....installing XP over and over....very boring,but picked up a few tricks...now I'm an IT Analyst(more networked based ie: WLAN switches, Layer 3 switches, servers, etc.

-What is your current position and how long have you been with your employer?IT Analyst - 14 months

-What are the main responsibilities of your position?WLAN, servers, tape backups, switches,

-What do you enjoy most about your job?The freedom to make decisions, variety of technologies that I get to work with(I just wish that 15% of my job wasn't desktop support).

-What do you find most challenging about your job? The political games and getting upper management to see why we should do IT things differently. Doing something just because it "just works" is not always the right answer. DO IT CORRECTLY OR DO NOT DO IT AT ALL.

-Briefly describe your typical work week. Monday, fix a failed hard drive, Tuesday, create a VLAN, Wednesday, show a user how to create a signature in Outlook, Thursday create a network diagram for a WLAN and tie it into the LAN at that site, Friday, surf the web

-What job search methods did you use to obtain your current position?Monster.com

-What advise would you give to students interested in your field? Realize that you don't know it all. Be humble... Because you know Java, built your own computer, run linux at home, or speak techy talk doesn't mean you know how to demote an AD server, create a VLAN, troubleshoot Exchange, push out software via SMS or GP. You're the new guy...keep your mouth shut and your ears open. You're the new guy know matter what. You're the new guy until the company hires someone else, even if that is 5 years.
Click to expand...

QFT!!!


1) Major?? :)

2) Began as a Junior Tech for LAN/WAN consulting firm for 3 years, then moved into Senior Tech spot by default (I was the only one in my company that kept up on current technology). Stayed for 8 years and learned/documented countless clients' networks.

3) For the last 3 years, I've been the head of a one-man IT shop for a local Oil Company/C-Store chain. Every day is an adventure...

4) If it blinks, beeps or records, it's in my domain. Everything from pulling surveillance footage from a store's DVR, to repairing POS equipment, to running one-off SQL reports from the DB, to researching new trends in sales hardware/marketing.

5) The variety of tasks

6) Political BS and Justification of funding.

7) As random as Answer 4

8) Word of Mouth, but my Resume` is plastered on every Job classified website as well.

9) My advise would be very similar to JayAre's... Sit down, Shut up, and Learn. There will always be someone that's more knowledgeable on a certain subject than you are. Just listen and absorb. Also, keep in mind that the difference between an good tech and a great tech is not necessarily knowing the answer to EVERY problem, but knowing how (or where) to find the answer.
 
* What was your major?
Computer Science. Programming but I took a networking course or two. .

* Briefly describe your career path since graduation
Worked as a help desk tech while going to college for 5 years. Graduated, work as one for a year, then received a network administrator position.

* What is your current position and how long have you been with your employer?
Network Administrator. Six months.

* What are the main responsibilities of your position?
Uptime and maintenance. I think a lot of admins could reply with this. Although I do the usual things such as wiring, configuring new servers and applications, in the long run it's all about keeping what you have running smoothly.

* What do you enjoy most about your job?
The freedom and the responsibility that comes with it. The people I work with. They're intelligent and easy going. After that I would have to say the 'presents' my boss brings me. Spare parts and tools without me even asking which makes the job easy. Of course, I still get to make requests and purchases, but it's just a bonus how he does that.

* What do you find most challenging about your job?
Waking up in the morning? Really though, it's when you get that call at 4AM when XYZ is down and someone working on the other side of the country needs it.

* Briefly describe your typical work week.
There's usually no middle ground. It's either really busy, or really dead for me. There are days where I will go in and check up on things, post on hardforum (like now.. :p) and not much goes on.
Other days I will come in to e-mails in my box that I need to sort out ASAP and I will need to stay 30-1hr late or continue working on it the next day.
I would say the week JayAre posted is pretty typical.

* What job search methods did you use to obtain your current position?
My mother actually saw it in the newspaper! I applied and got it.

* What advice would you give to students interested in your field?
To me it's a given that you're going to get your degree. This is in addition to that. Get experience. Learn on your own. If you're a computer enthusiast in the first place, then it only takes one extra computer to be a Windows 2003 Server or Small Business server. There are courses at most colleges that will give you this software through an MSDN subscription. Cisco switches can be acquired for cheap on ebay, or even a basic intelligent switch is enough to learn about VLANs.
A strong passion for what you want to do is what gets you there. Learning on your own should be fun and interesting if this is really what you want to do. To me, that's the best way to learn.
 
* What was your major?
CIS...still is actually...I haven't graduated yet
* Briefly describe your career path since graduation
I haven't graduated yet. I started as general tech support. I was noticed. Given more responsibility, and eventually promoted to a tech support manager. After a few bigger projects I completed I received a new position that included some administration responsibility, including Novell server management, and management of a few other things. I was just promoted to Assistant Manager of my department last week.
* What is your current position and how long have you been with your employer?
Assistant Manager of Academic Technology Operations, 9 months.
* What are the main responsibilities of your position?
Novell administration, SAV server administration, Video Conferencing Lab administration (30 computer lab with some fancy webcams), Proctored Exams testing room administration, general tech support (I can't seem to shove this responsibility entirely onto my staff).
* What do you enjoy most about your job?
The feeling of completing big projects.
* What do you find most challenging about your job?
Politics (University politics, job politics, blah blah blah)
* Briefly describe your typical work week.
Head into work Monday, check voicemail, email, mail-mail, return calls for 2hrs. Work on current projects and junk for the rest of the day.
* What job search methods did you use to obtain your current position?
Job search through my universities career offices.
* What advise would you give to students interested in your field?
Experience means a helluva lot more than a degree. Get into the field early even if it is just tech support or some kind of junk maintenance job.
 
1. Business Administration - General Business
2. Managed retail before going back to school for IT
3. Network Admin ~15 months
4. Ensure systems are operable, broad I know.
5. I love IT. It's fun to me.
6. I dislike people. So you see the conundrum.
7. Fix problems caused by general failure or caused by users // research, develop, and implement new systems
8.The usual websites. Monster, Careerbuilder, Computerjobs
9. Your major, while helpful, doesn't matter too much. There are plenty of IT managers who majored in German. Having a 4 year degree is the important part of college. In the workplace, experience is king. Having the certifications to supplement that experience is icing on the cake. Take internships, jobs, whatever you can to get experience. Most definitely, do not try to brain dump your way to MCSE or CCNA and expect to get a decent job. Be extremely honest about what you know. Posers are quickly identified. :p
 
* What was your major?
History :p

* Briefly describe your career path since graduation
Stumbled blindly for years, got into tech support about five years after graduation, and then into real hardware and software support two years after that. A full ten years after graduating I became IT Manager at a prominent non-profit and was there for four years before bungling my career all over again. :)

* What is your current position and how long have you been with your employer?
IT Manager at an ad agency, over a year now

* What are the main responsibilities of your position?
Network admin, server admin, some desktop support.

* What do you enjoy most about your job?
It's nice to get the chance to do things the "right way." I also like helping non techs understand things so they can make better long-term decisions about IT purchasing.

* What do you find most challenging about your job?
See above. Getting non tech people to understand technology and have reasonable expectations.

* Briefly describe your typical work week.
For the most part, basic maintenance and admin. keeping an eye on things, looking for any trouble. Throw in a little long-term planning.

* What job search methods did you use to obtain your current position?
Craisglist, Dice and Monster. Craigslist ended up being the one where I was spotted.

* What advice would you give to students interested in your field?
Keep an open mind, be willing to do all sorts of related work and keep growing. IT is a line of work that requires constant growth and keeping up with the field. It's easy to stagnate yourself right out of significance.
 
1. Associates in Computer Technology.
2. Worked doing carpentry, construction, property maintenance for 2 years. Then I got a job opportunity from a friend for help desk staff. Then a couple years later, here I am working with SQL, enforcing network policies, making sure stuff stays working. Yay!
3. Help desk Director - 3 years.
4. Manage network, design/implement network policies in house and for clients. I also manage help desk staff.
5. Freedom.
6. When something "unknown" happens. It seems there are a lot of unique circumstances that crop up on a regular basis. Being able to adapt is the most required skill, i.e, learning new procedures, trying to plan for the future.
7. Look over help desk tickets, enforce policies, talk to EU's about problems they are having, devise solutions.
8. Lucked out having a friend.
9. School is a stepping stone, it is important as a place to gain knowledge, but it will not get you ready for the field. You need to be ready to learn on the fly. Always be happy with positions you end up and try to gain as much knowledge and experience as possible. Anything to do with computers always changes, new software, hardware, and security issues come up all the time. Staying one step ahead of the technology curve is something to strive for. Finally, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
 
  • What was your major?
    No college.
  • Briefly describe your career path since graduation
    Worked at a store fixing PCs, then worked phone tech support for an ISP, got promoted to Jr NOC due to Linux skills, then started learning more about networking. Got a job at a bank's IT dept, got an MCSE and CCNA.
  • What is your current position and how long have you been with your employer?
    Senior Network Engineer, 2 years.
  • What are the main responsibilities of your position?
    LAN/WAN/VPN/firewalls.
  • What do you enjoy most about your job?
    "it isn't the network, go talk to the server guy"
  • What do you find most challenging about your job?
    When the server guy says "it must be the network!"
  • Briefly describe your typical work week.
    Check logs, monitor usage graphs for unusual traffic patterns, change speed/duplex settings on switch ports, open ports in firewall, change DNS entries, setup new routers or switches.
  • What job search methods did you use to obtain your current position?
    Monster.com
  • What advise would you give to students interested in your field?
    Quit college and start getting real experience.
 
What was your major?

I'm finishing up my degree - CIS

Briefly describe your career path since graduation

I haven't graduated yet. Did internships at the Army since I was 14. At 19, worked at a small shop for 6 months (think of Geek Squad, but without the ridicule associated with Geek Squad) as lead technician. Quit that crap and worked at a international financial organization for a little over a year doing executive support. After that, worked as a systems administrator for a leading non-profit organization for a year. There wasn't enough responsibility for me unfortunately, so I took a job at an all-girls university. Was hired as server administrator, but then the network engineer quit, so those responsibilities were transferred onto me... so now I pretty much do server admin + network engineer. I'm in talks with my boss to get promoted to associate director of IT (and still do network engineer) hopefully soon.

What is your current position and how long have you been with your employer?

network engineer, been with them for 10 months with good prospects to be promoted to associate director.

What are the main responsibilities of your position?

Manage entire IT infrastructure. LAN/WAN, app deployment, etc.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Finally being out of Hell Desk! I just work on projects most of the day, so that's cool.

What do you find most challenging about your job?

Multitasking between a dozen projects. Also as phelptwan mentioned, university politics... it's really a different ballgame compared to other places!

Briefly describe your typical work week.

Come in [early if installing patches], do a systems check, read up in IT/security news, check the spam filder and start working on projects. I also provide escalated support to the help desk techs if needed. times this by 5. I'm also on-call on weekends.

What job search methods did you use to obtain your current position?

A friend reccomended me.

What advise would you give to students interested in your field?

Have ambition. Lots of it. Furthering your education through school and certs helps you get noticied.
 
1: BA in CIS

2: I worked retail through college and could never afford to get an internship. Got promoted to retail manager, hated my life, quit, took a sales position, hated life, quit, got a help desk position with public school system, happy, staying.

3: Software Support Specialist (ie Help Desk), 8 months

4: EU support. Every chance I get I'm trying to help out with server issues and I help manage AD accounts

5: Having a job in IT. I just about went back to school for an accounting degree since that's where the money is in my neck of the US. I don't care about the money just as long as I can support myself and not have to worry about paycheck to paycheck and I can with this lowly job. I like the fact that I get challenged every time I try to learn. Major change from retail/sales.

6: Politics of course. Learning stuff outside my assigned position, with so many techs that have come through trust is earned and just takes time here.

7: Support school I'm assigned to then travel to administrative building and support them and field help desk calls. Reset password, reset password, reset password, fix excel, reset password. Rinse repeat.

8: Was unemployed and just happened to look at their website

9: Everyone has said it, experience. I went almost a year out of the IT world and it's
amazing how you lose that edge of learning and troubleshooting. I just now, 8 months later, are starting to feel confident in my tech skills again. More then anything I feel like I know too little and that I have to learn which is good. My best suggestion would be build a small lab at your house and learn all the networking backend as you can because no matter what you end up doing you have to know how networking affects everything else.
 
* What was your major? BS - Computer Networking Management
* Briefly describe your career path since graduation - Worked for a satellite company doing technical management/liason (get information from engineering, make it readable to the CEO and brief him). Took at job as head of customer service at a startup phone company, now I'm head of IT/Network Management
* What is your current position and how long have you been with your employer? Director of Network Operations - I've been here for right at 4 years
* What are the main responsibilities of your position? Ensure Network integrity(both company and fiber to the prem access network), long term project planning, project management, management, customer service, unclog the toilet, put in phone orders and anything else that needs done.
* What do you enjoy most about your job? I would say the diversity, every day is something new and fun and each week it seems some new piece of equipment comes across my desk to start testing on.
* What do you find most challenging about your job? Time management, while I'm a manager we're a small company so I do day to day things as well as larger projects, getting all of it done is usually most of the battle. I've learned to schedule meetings, while my employees hate it if I don't then I don't get my things done. While they have to answer to me I have to answer to my boss.
* Briefly describe your typical work week. Monday - Deal with outages and broken stuff for the most part, Tuesday through Friday - manage projects, keep employees on task and work forcasting/upcoming projects.
* What job search methods did you use to obtain your current position? I got lucky, my younger brother had worked with my current boss for a few years and mentioned that I was out of college needing a job...a few days later I interviewed and was hired. Employee #2 in the company.
* What advise would you give to students interested in your field? I am very young for the position I am in (24), do I claim to know everything, no, however, when it comes to Passive Optical Networking, Microsoft, Linux, Routing and VLAN's, I know my way around, know your limits and when you need help ask. I have asked for consultant help on various occasions, never has my employer told me no to getting outside help, usually they are thankful that I said I couldn't do something. Once the consultant is in learn how to do what they are doing, then you don't have to bring them in again. Being young I run into a lot of guys who think because I'm young I haven't been around the block, learn to stand your ground at times but also learn to stand down. Being the young guy you will run into guys who think age is a factor in what you know, while true some times it's not always, I've met many older IT people who don't get it either.
 
* What was your major?

Dropping out. Seriously, I quit college three times. I haven't gone back to finish it yet.

* Briefly describe your career path since graduation

Dropped out, started working for a small PC shop, and worked my way up. I got the experience I needed for an admin position by working at a server-only OEM doing production and support.

* What is your current position and how long have you been with your employer?

Currently working as a network tech at a school district. Admin wasn't really my game, and this pays more than my last job, with less responsibility. Because this has to do with admin, I'll talk about my last job.

* What are the main responsibilities of your position?

Fix what breaks, keep the rest of it from breaking. I supported a number of proprietary applications, kept the network up, and was generally a one-man IT shop.

* What do you enjoy most about your job?

Independence.

* What do you find most challenging about your job?

Dealing with management that thought they were running a Fortune 500 company with 200 employees.

* Briefly describe your typical work week.

I spent entirely too much time in meetings explaining to thick-headed managers why things couldn't be done. I also spent far too long checking software logs and looking for errors I could have paid a college student to read if they'd have let me hire someone. It was a lot of tedium punctuated by brief moments of panic as one system or another went down because I was too bogged down in trying to make my boss happy to actually maintain the system.

I really, really needed a lackey at that job :)

* What job search methods did you use to obtain your current position?

Stumbled across it in the newspaper.

* What advise would you give to students interested in your field?

Don't drop out :) It's not the mid-90s any more...I could get away with it back then, you can't now. The days of starting the way Dell and Gates did are long gone.

At the same time, don't overvalue your education. I've fired college graduates. I've fired people with more certifications than I have letters in my name (I have just one). Why? Because there are ways to get that piece of paper without actually retaining the knowledge it claims you have. Five years after college, no one is going to care where you went or what you did there; they might require the degree, but once you've been in the workforce for a while it's the real world experience that is of real value.
 
* What was your major?
BS in IT (still enrolled)

* Briefly describe your career path since graduation
Went from helpdesk to network support/sys admin to currently consulting.

* What is your current position and how long have you been with your employer?
My current title is "consultant" I've been on this project for only 2 months so far. Should last a year. Previous job was a little over 2 years

* What are the main responsibilities of your position?
Deploying software and customizations to approximately 60,000 seats worldwide. Using AD, various scripting technologies, etc.

* What do you enjoy most about your job?
lol, the pay. i get paid to do what i love.

* What do you find most challenging about your job?
Staying awake. I go to a lot of meetings and they get really boring after a while.

* Briefly describe your typical work week.
Write some scripts, edit some gpo's, do some tests on specific users. work with the current network team on any issues, attend wayyy too many meetings.

* What job search methods did you use to obtain your current position?
Job search sites. the employer actually contacted me about this position.

* What advise would you give to students interested in your field?
Get certs (they really do help despite people saying they suck), make the best out of your situation, get involved in any and every project you can. Strive for excellence. If you dont want to be the best, you'll get passed up in the long run. most importantly stay humble. i have very few it friends because theyre annoying supposed know it alls. it gets really old. as long as you can explain a topic to someone w/o throwing around insults and acronyms youre well on your way to getting paid to surf the net (thats pretty much what it guys do).
 
* What was your major? none completed.. a+ and network+ in '01. started an assoc. in unix/linux admin in 05. didn't finish.

* Briefly describe your career path since graduation: in '01 worked at best buy in repair for a few months.. in '02 while getting "business class internet" (basicly just a static ip with TW.) the installer (who was the manager of the commercial side for the subcontractor Time Warner used) saw my rack and servers. started asking me questions. i was hired with them the week after that. worked there for 2years troubleshooting Tw's commercial customers connection issues and other small business network issues.. laid off due to lack of work in '04. started a helpdesk job in '05, 4months later i was a linux admin. laid off in '06. 2months later got a "systems specialist" position at a local hospital. been here right at 1year now.

* What is your current position and how long have you been with your employer? systems specialist, 1year

* What are the main responsibilities of your position? manage firewalls, bsd dhcp servers, linux network monitoring servers, routers, switches

* What do you enjoy most about your job? sometimes its challanging.

* What do you find most challenging about your job? all the corporate politics.

* Briefly describe your typical work week. it all depends on what projects are going on, new requests or if anything breaks.

* What job search methods did you use to obtain your current position? monster.com and local contract companies.

* What advise would you give to students interested in your field? do as much stuff related to your field as possible on your own. it shows you have interest in the field and you put forth effort to learn on your own.
 
* What was your major?
Information Science and Technology (should have been called programming for lazy grad students who didn't feel like writing their own code)
* Briefly describe your career path since graduation
One-and-done. I graduated a year ago and have been with the same company since. I came in as a Desktop Support Specialist, but was pretty much immediately moved up to Network Analyst. I'm now a Network Co-Administrator alongside two peers.
* What is your current position and how long have you been with your employer?
Whoops, answered that in the last one.
* What are the main responsibilities of your position?
Ensure that all network resources are available. Maintain servers. Plan and implement future projects. Continue to support network and desktops when necessary.
* What do you enjoy most about your job?
The fact that it doesn't feel like I'm at work.
* What do you find most challenging about your job?
The fact that I sometimes forget that I'm at work.
* Briefly describe your typical work week.
Each day of my work week is sort of like a season of 24. It generally starts with a disaster of epic proportions then a lot of scrambling to fix it. You then find out that one of your coworkers is responsible for causing the issue. There's some yelling and gunfire, and then everything wraps up nicely.
* What job search methods did you use to obtain your current position?
Friend and part time work experience with the company.
* What advise would you give to students interested in your field?
Learning what you are taught in school is great, but hands-on experience and the drive and ability to figure out the things that can't be found in books is just as important. Never stop learning, or you'll never catch up.
 
APOLOGIES FOR THE HIJACK......

But do you guys really get along with your IT-coworkers? Do you often find yourself getting aggravated with their decisions? Do you feel like you end up cleaning up their messes/mistakes? Do you have to coach/correct them daily?

Is their any rhyme or reason to the method of madness in your IT organization? Does it seem like projects get implemented without ever thinking through ALL consequences?

I find it hard to deal with all of these situations. Some of it may have to do with the fact that I'm also a part time firefighter. In that field, there's tons of organization and structure and common sense is a must.

bllahhhhhh maybe I'm just anal. Sorry for the rant....
 
JayAre said:
APOLOGIES FOR THE HIJACK......

But do you guys really get along with your IT-coworkers? Do you often find yourself getting aggravated with their decisions? Do you feel like you end up cleaning up their messes/mistakes? Do you have to coach/correct them daily?

Is their any rhyme or reason to the method of madness in your IT organization? Does it seem like projects get implemented without ever thinking through ALL consequences?

I find it hard to deal with all of these situations. Some of it may have to do with the fact that I'm also a part time firefighter. In that field, there's tons of organization and structure and common sense is a must.

bllahhhhhh maybe I'm just anal. Sorry for the rant....
Click to expand...

We harass each other like crazy. It is fair game that keeps us on are toes. Works well but freaks people out from time to time.

Example. We had a business dinner meeting and I got carded when I ordered a beer(I'm 23). One of the other guys makes a comment and she cards him(he is 50). He is happy as he got carded so I look over at him and go "Rick they are just checking to see if you qualify for the senior discount'. You see everyone just stair and give a mean laugh.

Another example is one of the other workers broke his blackberry and it took 2 weeks to get it replaced for some reason. Anyway they gave him the biggest pos phone I've seen in a while as a loaner. Drove him nuts. Everytime I would see him I'd plug out my blackberry and check my messages.
 
JayAre said:
APOLOGIES FOR THE HIJACK......

But do you guys really get along with your IT-coworkers? For the most part. Though most everyone else in the dept is 10+years older than I am, so I get a lot of crap. Do you often find yourself getting aggravated with their decisions? All the time! But a majority of it is not the fault of my co-workers but of upper managemnt or other dept's that screw up stuff and try to blame us. "Oh thats a networking issue. Call them." That gets really old. Do you feel like you end up cleaning up their messes/mistakes? Do you have to coach/correct them daily? It's mostly other depts, like I said, but there have been some instances where I have had to fix mistakes made by some of the people above me. It's sad, these guys have been in IT since I was in middle school but yet the other firewall guy can not wrap his head around rule creation for crap. Some of the other guys can't seem to even do a base install of freeBSD, even with a step by step doc in front of them.

Is their any rhyme or reason to the method of madness in your IT organization? NEVER! Does it seem like projects get implemented without ever thinking through ALL consequences? All I have to say is, Symantec Firewalls are pos's.

I find it hard to deal with all of these situations. Some of it may have to do with the fact that I'm also a part time firefighter. In that field, there's tons of organization and structure and common sense is a must.

bllahhhhhh maybe I'm just anal. Sorry for the rant....
Click to expand...


I feel the same way and a lot of the above fits in to my one major dislike about IT and the corporate world. The politics. CYA and be a bitch. From what I've seen so far, do the two formentioned things and your good to go.
 
* What was your major?
Electrical Engineering

* Briefly describe your career path since graduation
1st level helpdesk at local ISP
2nd level network support at same ISP
Network engineer at Biotech
Sr. Network engineer at same Biotech

* What is your current position and how long have you been with your employer?
My current title is Senior Network Engineer and I have been with my current employer for 6 year

* What are the main responsibilities of your position?
Design/Implementation and support of our global enterprise WAN/LAN.

* What do you enjoy most about your job?
The responsibility and ability to play with lots of cool "toys" all week.

* What do you find most challenging about your job?
Dealing with other groups expectations of when and how things should be done and how quickly they think they should be done by.

* Briefly describe your typical work week.
Morning: Check mail, fight any fires that have come up overnight
Midday: work on various projects (of which I always have 3-4 going on at once)
Afternoon: still working on various projects
Night: STILL working on various projects (okay, not every night but there is alot of odd hours I have to work especially for any network maintenance that needs to be done)

* What job search methods did you use to obtain your current position?
I was contacted by my current employer based on my resume that was posted on Monster

* What advise would you give to students interested in your field?
There is a lot of theory to learn from books and classes but you can't beat actual hands on experience. I have worked with plenty of people that haver certs of every kind and have found that certs don't mean squat if you can't put anything you have learned to use practically.
 
I think everyone in IT feels like what your coworkers do is wrong.

Everyone has their own idea of the "right" way to do things and there are a million different ways to put the round peg in the round hole.

The bigger problem is with the overall scheme like you said. The problem here is that the people who are making decisions and calling the shots usually have the most business savvy, but the least technical knowledge. Its the same reason salesmen travel with engineers when they're trying to hawk a product.
 
sully127 said:
I think everyone in IT feels like what your coworkers do is wrong.

Everyone has their own idea of the "right" way to do things and there are a million different ways to put the round peg in the round hole.

The bigger problem is with the overall scheme like you said. The problem here is that the people who are making decisions and calling the shots usually have the most business savvy, but the least technical knowledge. Its the same reason salesmen travel with engineers when they're trying to hawk a product.
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I can't agree with that entirely. Yes, it's true that there are a million ways to do something. Just because "it works", doesn't mean it was the correct way to do it. If this isn't the case, then companies wouldn't put out White Papers, MS Exchange wouldn't have best practices, and Cisco wouldn't have certifications.

There are right ways to do things and "lazy" ways to do things.
 
What was your major?
Click to expand...

I started my job prior to attending college, at the moment I am pursuing a degree in IT Management.

What is your current position and how long have you been with your employer?
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Network administrator/Unix administrator. I have been at my current job 4.5 years.

What are the main responsibilities of your position?
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I am responsible for maintaining our Linux and FreeBSD servers, which range from mail servers to database servers. On the network side, I am responsible for the maintenance of our entire network infrastructure, including access switches, core routing, edge routing, and wide area network.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
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My coworkers. I guess I'm fortunate to work with an awesome group of people.

What do you find most challenging about your job?
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Troubleshooting external network connectivity due to the number of organizations involved in the connection, which each have to perform testing on their hardware.

Briefly describe your typical work week.
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I check all servers for any software updates, and perform all minor updates without sending a notice out. And, verify that our backup system is performing the backups as it should.

For the network side, I check network utilization to make sure there is no unusual traffic usage. As well, check all switchs, and routing hardware for any errors or anything else outside of expected range.

What job search methods did you use to obtain your current position?
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I got the job after posting an ad online looking for work. I had previously been working as an admin for an ISP, and was looking for a change of environment.

What advise would you give to students interested in your field?
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Expose yourself to a wide range of systems, and devices. Having some familiarity with a bunch of different systems, can be more useful that a lot of knowledge in just a few.

For instance, where I work, we utilize Linux, FreeBSD, and Windows 2003 for our servers. And, on the network side equipment from Juniper, Cisco, and Extreme.
 
JayAre said:
I can't agree with that entirely. Yes, it's true that there are a million ways to do something. Just because "it works", doesn't mean it was the correct way to do it. If this isn't the case, then companies wouldn't put out White Papers, MS Exchange wouldn't have best practices, and Cisco wouldn't have certifications.

There are right ways to do things and "lazy" ways to do things.
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You make a valid point, but at the same time, speaking from experience, I have to say that just because something is the right way to do something doesn't mean it will work...

It sounds stupid but how many times have you tried to ascribe findings in a white paper or suggestions from a best practices guide which just don't apply to your situation?
 
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