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Hi Guys,

I’ve just finished my final year of my Telecoms professional course - it’s nothing fancy or technical

I’m currently working a Service Desk Analyst at a cloud computing company that sorted out the above course for me - whilst the course was basic it taught me a fair bit

Whilst i enjoy working on the service desk diagnosing network faults for customers and getting involved in basic networking discussions with the network team i feel it’s time to move on or at least start looking at moving on in the company to the networking team

I’m just about to go 20 so i’ve got time as long as i don’t die or anything and was wondering what you guys thought the best path for me is? i’m looking at a network engineering role hopefully

I’ve got some basic IT experience worked almost 2 years at this job and just under 1 on the service desk

Thanks,

Jack

4 Spice ups
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get your hands dirty.

actual hands-on experience is the best teacher. so go get some CAT5, 5e, 6, 6e and learn how to crimp them as per standards. then also get some switch, wire your room (or whole house), and take it from there.

2 Spice ups
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You can find CCNA lab equipment on eBay for not too much. While it will be fairly Cisco slanted, a lot of the basics in CCNA are applicable to any brand of switch or router.

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Way ahead of ya! already got some old equipment sat on my desk at home - whilst i’m not sure what to do with it i completely agree that hands on experience is the best - whilst watching a video on CBT nuggets or whatever is good actually playing with it is good

2 Spice ups
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A dying trade, learn how to make your own cable, punch down patch panels and connect Ethernet jacks. Then test your skills.

1 Spice up
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Learn the TCP/IP stack and how it’s layers work. The Sec+ exam really helped me in that area.

As others have mentioned, terminating some Cat5e cables (it’s fun!) and building a small network from scratch is a good practical exercise.

Or, just enjoy your 20s (and try not to die!) The IT stuff will come with learning and practice.

2 Spice ups
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Getting your hands dirty and practicing is the key - don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Get yourself some virtual labs (save the time and effort of making your own) and practice, practice, practice.