Which networking job provides the best income and stability?
I am a first year networking student working my way towards my associate networking degree which I am scheduled to complete in the Summer of 2008. I plan to acquire a Cisco certification and use it combined with my degree to land my first job and complete my bachelor's degree the following year. I'm currently changing fields at 31 (real-estate crash victim) and I am seeking stability in a career path that is growing and expanding. The dean at my college has been helpful answering most of my questions but lacked the industry specific knowledge to answer this question which I pose:
Out of all the possible career paths that a network degree could take you... What in your opinion would provide an individual with the greatest stability and income ? What certifications in addition to a CCNA should I try to pick up to maximize my odds of landing a job with a starting salary that one could actually live on (40k+)?
I have about eight years of experience in Celluar retail, products and management. I was hoping to leverage some of this experience when seeking my first job though none of it is related to networks. Who pays some of the better wages to network professionals? Financial companiess? Celluar/Wireless providers? The government?
Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated. A bit of advice from an industry insider would be of great benefit. Thank you!
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Software/Hardware used:
ASKED:
February 19, 2008 10:26 PM
UPDATED:
February 16, 2011 8:55 PM
Answer Wiki:
you are starting out right with your CCNA. Definately do not stop going for your bachelors. You would want to get a Microsoft certification just because Microsoft has 90+ percent of the market. Once you have those skills down I would look into security certifications. Hackers have made a profession out of stealing money from people and network security is only going to get bigger as the years go by. BUT you want to look into what these persons do on a daily basis. Going into it just for the money is not the right approach. You have to love your job and the money will come after that. Good luck with your future!
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Dear NWATE:
frequent poster Buddy Farr is absolutely spot on with his advice: Cisco is good, and so is Microsoft, and don’t stop chasing the BA/BS/bachelor’s degree. He’s also right that information security remains a top job market, particularly the CISSP and CISM certifications (visit http://www.gocertify.com to look these and lots of others up). A basic background in systems administration should let you meet your up-front income needs, but advanced experience and certifications (including CISA, CISM, CiSSP, CCIE, and so forth) will let you keep on marching into low six-figure income territory.
If you have specfiic certs you’d like to get comments on, or more specific questions to raise, post them here or look up my e-mail address at http://www.edtittel.com to contact me directly. Be sure to put: Job-Advice: at the head of your subject field to get past my spam filter.
HTH,
–Ed–
For Route/Switch networking – go the CCNP/CCIE path – Voice is in high-demand, so is security – Both of which have Several Prestigious Certifications to accomodate…