Elmer despatched me the next query:
I’ve been working in programs engineering (Linux, virtualization, infrastructure ops) and am contemplating shifting towards community engineering or structure. I bought my CCNA years in the past and began CCNP however didn’t proceed.
I’d actually recognize any ideas you might need on how somebody with my background may greatest make that transition at present, particularly with how issues are evolving round automation and the cloud.
I preserve answering a variant of this query each different 12 months or so (2019, 2021, 2023, 2024). I suppose it’s time for one more reply, so right here we go.
The fundamentals by no means change:
- Cloud networking and automation have gotten desk stakes.
- Understanding how networking works (layer-2 applied sciences, ARP/ND, IP forwarding, routing protocols, and many others.) by no means damage anybody.
- Certifications are inevitably a money-generating train (for the certification distributors, not your self) and a vendor advertising and marketing device. Sadly, they’re additionally one of many first filters an HR division makes use of to scale back the ten.000 LinkedIn submissions to a considerably manageable quantity.
- Certifications may also assist you keep on monitor for those who preserve their final aim in thoughts and comply with them for the journey, to not cheat your approach to the top aim.
Nonetheless, whereas which may provide you with some concepts about what to check, the truth is that all of us need to pay the payments, so it’s price exploring what your goal market is searching for:
- Work out the place you’d prefer to work.
- Learn how the organizations you’d be involved in run their networks, how a lot they use the general public cloud, and the way far alongside their automation journey they’re.
- Discover an intersection between what you assume is sensible and what organizations you’d prefer to work with want.
Subsequent:
- Use no matter means accessible to get there. Getting a related certification alongside the best way will assist you bust the HR filters.
- Whereas one can waste inordinate quantities of cash on a certification course of, quite a few free (typically even open-source) options exist. Each cloud supplier presents a free tier, most community automation instruments have a free model, there are open-source instruments to construct networking labs, and also you would possibly discover a complete set of free workouts overlaying a expertise you’re involved in (BGP, ISIS, community automation, cloud networking)
Lastly, how do you learn the way individuals run their networks? Use the opposite networking 😉 Attend native meetups and conferences, and attempt to interact with the engineers from the organizations you discover fascinating. Everybody loves to elucidate the tough elements of what they’re doing and yammer about their challenges ;))
Final however not least, whereas honing your expertise, doc your experiences to spice up your on-line presence, and use any talking alternative to speak about related challenges you encountered. The roles you get by means of a private invitation to a chat or an interview are often higher than those you apply for by means of an internet job posting web site.
