Network Engineering is a very exciting field to be a part of. I can honestly say that I love my job. If you love technology and can appreciate daily challenges and projects then this could be the perfect job for you. Some daily responsibilities include troubleshooting current issues and/or investigating past issues. Issues can range anywhere from a simple port configuration for a new PC install to routing changes/updates required for new sites or subnets. There is always something to work on. Whether it be designing, upgrading or maintaining the networks you work on. I talk to a lot of people about my career and they almost always ask me how I got started. My story is like many other Network Engineers. I was introduced to this career field courtesy of the US Air Force. I learned the fundamentals and theory behind IP Addressing and Networking. It was from there that I decided this would be my career path.

Network Engineering is a demanding field to work in. You have to be willing to devote a lot of time to this career as well as hit the books, videos and labs on your “off” time. You have to be willing to not just ask questions when you get lost but to have the ability and motivation to not give up on a topic and dive into it head on. This is a key factor/skill that sets some Engineers above the rest. If you are willing to constantly learn and improve your craft and knowledge then there will be nowhere for you to go but to the top. If you are reading this article then you are probably very aware of the fact that the technology changes rapidly and the if a person who is charged with maintaining these systems begins to fall behind on new trends then they will surely be left behind. You have to stay focused and be prepared to learn something new daily. Keep in mind that everyone has a different learning style. To find yours you have to experiment. If you do not currently work in the IT field I would recommend taking just about any “IT” related job in order to break into the field and company. Use this stepping point to learn about the companies’ procedures and infrastructure. Next step would be to work towards network administration and eventually into engineering.

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