Newbie - need some advice.

[arakis777]

Hi I am pretty new on here and would appreciate some advice.

I was a permie until late last year with over 20 years experience (from field service to third line / TAC and resident engineer) in telecoms - I have CCNA and JNCIA , JNCIS and hoping to get JNCIP and CCNP by the end of the year (I have a lot of other related certs also). I have just finished my first contract which lasted 5 months and now on the bench.

I have registered with the usual agencies/websites but mainly getting permie roles coming my way. I would normally go for a permanent as I have a family but the salaries have dropped sharply. Even in London I see the same roles I did 15 years ago paying less now than they did then! I was even contacted by an agency recently for a shift leader in a NOC doing night shifts , it was a contract but offering £19 p/hr what a joke. There is no way I could live on this. One of my friends worked with a guy recently at a NOC in Newbury and he was on £100 per day.

I have been disillusioned with the industry for some time now as have a lot of guys I know, but now in my mid forties it is too late to change careers. What I would like to know is, is it worth sticking it out and collect more certs and keep trying for contract after contract? I see most permie roles now are either Architect level or heavy into security.

I was thinking about doing CCNP security exams but security seems to be changing all the time. Is it worth doing checkpoint or Juniper e.g. JNCIS - Sec or Cisco CCNP security.
I know if I manage to stay in this industry I will need to constantly keep studying to keep up my skills until I retire, but I will do it just to pay the mortgage etc. Some people are saying things will pick up but how long will that be? it is never again going to be like the late 90s.

I was thinking of even moving more into project management as I have some project experience. Is that worth a shot. Any advice would be really appreciated.


Dave
Milton Keynes

[TraceRacing]

Dave,

Take a moment to think about where you want to get to with the skills you have. NOC's for example are going more and more off shore, so you need to skill in an area which requires on shore presence otherwise you will be undercut on rate every time.

I'm a PM so don't know the qualification set, but if you can get into the digital security arena or become a CLAS consultant then you are pretty sure these roles will never be outsourced. I work for one of the biggie's and we have plenty of work (more than we can reasonably cope with) but they aren't taking on additional resource, so it is tough to break in.

Find or develop your USP and promote that.

HTH

[arakis777]

Newbie - need some advice

Thanks for the reply TraceRacing. Yes I could see the oncoming offshoring of NOCs years when after I left a NOC type role it was offshored to Brussels of all places. The last time I worked in a NOC was about 6 years ago but as a Juniper third line specialist. I will only work again in a NOC under contract if nothing else is forthcoming at that time. I really don't see a future in operations at all.


I agree I need a niche job not in direct danger of offshoring like design work or security consultant. My big problem is I don't have SC clearance as yet and would need to be sponsored. I do have have access to a lot of training material including CCNP security and Checkpoint etc. CLAS consultant looks very interesting but how to break into this or digital security in general?

I also don't see the point in pursuing Cisco and Juniper certs all the time. I would be happy just to get to CCIE (written) and JNCIP -SP and possibly JNCIS - SEC. I don't want to keep studying for more if it is not going to enhance what remains of my career. Anyway a lot of certs have been devalued by too many chasing the same certs and even worse cheating using braindumps.

Design / Architect needs a lot of experience and most like a expert exam like JNCIE or CCIE or both. What would you suggest I study to try and breakin to digital security Checkpoint , netscreen CCNP security etc?

Is my location also a problem? I moved to MK last year from West London. I don't mind commuting particularly for a contract or even working abroad (again on contract).

Regards

Dave

[TraceRacing]

TBH I can't advise on network skills any more than I already mentioned, but from MK it's easy to commute to anywhere between London and Brum. I should know, I live in MK....