I had someone ask me recently, do you do any blogging? My answer is of course, no. This person knows I study frequently outside of work. What kind of person works for a living, is not in school, yet still wants to study and expand a skill set beyond the average person? Apparently that's me.
After nearly 7 years working in the IT field, I believe I have found what I ultimately want in my career. I have worked in an education institution, a casino and now a consulting firm. All three are tremendously different. However, some skill sets I began to grow in college have gotten much, much greater.
I enjoy what I do at work, but I am finally ready to hone in on that single skill set. Data networking is definitely that area. I want to be the expert that someone calls when multiple people just can't figure out a problem. Maybe that sounds a bit prideful, but to be quite frank, that's where my drive in this career comes from. I sure don't think there is anything wrong with that. I thoroughly enjoy projects where I come up with solutions to networking problems or needs. I enjoy working on problems that no one else can figure out, and when those problems are fixed, there's always satisfaction in knowing I accomplished something difficult.
Over the last year or so, I have really begun to dig deep into Cisco technologies. I have worked with switching, routing and security for a while now, and when I began to dig deeper in networking and Cisco I learned that know very little. The CCNA was definitely not near as complex as it was in college, but there is definitely extreme satisfaction in knowing I obtained it. Since local testing centers are closed until schools are back in session, I am waiting a few more weeks, but I intend on having my CCNA Security by the end of this month.
I must say, having a family makes it very difficult to be able to devote extensive time to studying, but I am a firm believer this excessive studying and work I have been doing, and continue to do, will pay off.
So what is my plan for 2014? I intend on having my CCNP R&S certification. That is all....
After nearly 7 years working in the IT field, I believe I have found what I ultimately want in my career. I have worked in an education institution, a casino and now a consulting firm. All three are tremendously different. However, some skill sets I began to grow in college have gotten much, much greater.
I enjoy what I do at work, but I am finally ready to hone in on that single skill set. Data networking is definitely that area. I want to be the expert that someone calls when multiple people just can't figure out a problem. Maybe that sounds a bit prideful, but to be quite frank, that's where my drive in this career comes from. I sure don't think there is anything wrong with that. I thoroughly enjoy projects where I come up with solutions to networking problems or needs. I enjoy working on problems that no one else can figure out, and when those problems are fixed, there's always satisfaction in knowing I accomplished something difficult.
Over the last year or so, I have really begun to dig deep into Cisco technologies. I have worked with switching, routing and security for a while now, and when I began to dig deeper in networking and Cisco I learned that know very little. The CCNA was definitely not near as complex as it was in college, but there is definitely extreme satisfaction in knowing I obtained it. Since local testing centers are closed until schools are back in session, I am waiting a few more weeks, but I intend on having my CCNA Security by the end of this month.
I must say, having a family makes it very difficult to be able to devote extensive time to studying, but I am a firm believer this excessive studying and work I have been doing, and continue to do, will pay off.
So what is my plan for 2014? I intend on having my CCNP R&S certification. That is all....
