College Planning

[GigabitXe]

I am looking to become a Network and Computer Systems Administrator as my life career. In a nutshell, this is the person who takes care of all of the computers/networks in a company. See this link to have a more detailed explanation. I was wondering what courses/internships I should take to have a good shot at finding a job in this occupation.  I know that a degree in computer science is a good thing to have, but I want to know how to get some hands on experience. Any advice is appreciated.

[Windows 10]

50 minutes ago, Space2867 said:

I am looking to become a Network and Computer Systems Administrator as my life career. In a nutshell, this is the person who takes care of all of the computers/networks in a company. See this link to have a more detailed explanation. I was wondering what courses/internships I should take to have a good shot at finding a job in this occupation.  I know that a degree in computer science is a good thing to have, but I want to know how to get some hands on experience. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Lurick]

32 minutes ago, Lurick said:

So you have a few different options, one will give you hands on experience and the other will teach you theory and might give you hands on depending on the program.

Option 1:

Check your local community college for something like an Associates in Network Technology. These programs are very hands on, get you down and dirty with the equipment and learn you a lot of practical knowledge and theory. Depending on the course you can come out with several certifications including your CCNA, CCNP, Network+, and a Microsoft cert or two. This will be fast paced and get you with real working knowledge that you can apply in an internship or other role and even land you a good networking job.

 

Option 2:

Go to a regular four year college and see if they have anything along the lines of electrical or computer engineer with a focus on networking. Depending on the school itself they may do lots of hands on and focus you towards a couple certifications along the way, if they have something like this my advice is to jump on it. I know a lot of people who go through school and learn about theory and never get a day on a real device and come out into the workforce knowing jack about how to actually manage a device and configure an IP address.

 

The above options are just down and dirty but probably the most prevalent. I actually went with option 1 and now I work as a Solution Validation Network Engineer at Big Networking Company. I test and try to break things for customers, validate code and solutions and implementations before customers deploy it in the field. The hands on experience is what really helped me get where I am today and really set me apart from the other people. Regardless of what you want to do specifically in the networking field, which in your case sounds more like a Network Admin role which is still really awesome, get that hands on experience.

 

Some advice I gave another use who had similar interests, should apply very well to you also

TL;DR: Hands on experience is amazing, get as much of it as you possibly can. If given the choice between two programs and one gives you hands on experience while the other is nothing but theory or minimal hands on, go with the hands on one.

 

[GigabitXe]

Have not yet taken the ACT, but my GPA is 4.0. I am thinking way ahead, only a freshman in high school.

[MaxBunny]

2 minutes ago, Space2867 said:

I know that a degree in computer science is a good thing to have, but I want to know how to get some hands on experience. Any advice is appreciated.

Companies care more about what you know that which certification you have. Most compsci grads don't know anything and are lucky to land a desk job anywhere. The best thing you can do is make your own ideal setup at home/places and git guud son.

[GigabitXe]

1 minute ago, Lurick said:

 

Some advice I gave another use who had similar interests, should apply very well to you also

TL;DR: Hands on experience is amazing, get as much of it as you possibly can. If given the choice between two programs and one gives you hands on experience while the other is nothing but theory or minimal hands on, go with the hands on one.

 

 

Thanks, I will look into it.

[bob345]

i would talk to a counselor. Seems like you know what you want to do. A counselor will get you set on the right track for that major.

[GigabitXe]

Thanks for the good advice.

 

[2FA]

Programs that you would want to look into are Information Technology, Computer Information Systems, Networking, etc.

 

You might also try interning with your school's IT department though I would recommend that when you are a Junior or Senior in HS. Coming from someone that has worked in the IT department of a school, we don't really trust the younger students which is basically sophomore and below. 

 

I would also look into Comptia's certifications on their website, they even have practice exams. Cisco has certifications that I would look into as well as Microsoft that has quite a few.

[2FA]

12 minutes ago, Space2867 said:

I know that a degree in computer science is a good thing to have, but I want to know how to get some hands on experience.

Computer Science is the study of algorithms along with programming, it doesn't really touch the IT aspect of computers. Most CS majors at my university don't know a thing about the hardware of computers, networking, or any enterprise software and it's implementations really.

[GigabitXe]

The internship is a good idea, but I attend online school so that wouldn't work. Thanks for the other info.

[Lurick]

If you want to get hands on Cisco experience you could look into something like VIRL, http://virl.cisco.com/cloud It's a great way to get hands on experience at a low cost. Combine it with something like Packet, https://www.packet.net/ and you have a great and cheap way to practice different things and configure on a real CLI interface. Packet can also be used for Microsoft and other operating systems to virtualize them and play around with.

[ModerateSkill]

Changing my profile picture immediately.....

[CostcoSamples]

27 minutes ago, Space2867 said:

Have not yet taken the ACT, but my GPA is 4.0. I am thinking way ahead, only a freshman in high school.

The world of computer science is full of opportunity.  Now is an excellent time to start your training. Do not wait for college.  You should actually think really long and hard about whether you even need to go to college at all.  You definitely don't need it to learn the material, and a good employer will care more about your knowledge and talent than your credentials.  There are a host of high quality online training website available.  

 

https://teamtreehouse.com/

https://alison.com/learn/information-technology

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/categories/online-and-digital

 

Most are really cheap and you can do it in your spare time while still in high school!  Lets look at two scenarios:

 

1) Go to college after high school.  Spend 4 years in training, finish with $20k to $60k worth of debt.  You now have a degree in computer science and you are worth approximately $35k to $50k per year.  You have no wealth accumulated, a mountain of debt, and a lot of pressure to get the best possible job so you can make your loan payments.

 

2) Spend 1 hour every day working on some online courses.  By the end of high school you have completed a large number of courses and probably know nearly as much as you would at the end of a 4 year comp sci degree.  You have also been working on app development and have half a dozen apps in the app store.  Perhaps some of them have sold a few hundred copies, making you a small amount of money while you develop your skills.  You finish high school with zero debt, maybe some savings.  Because you don't have a comp sci degree, your wage is only worth $20k to $30k, but it goes up quickly because you work hard and learn fast.  After 4 years of working (the same point in time where you would have finished college) you are now making $40k to $60k, have 4 years of experience, still no debt, probably a good chunk of savings (because you are smart and don't waste it on pizza and beer), and are still climbing the ladder toward your ultimate goal.

[Windows 10]

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[GigabitXe]

Thanks for the great advice. It is greatly appreciated.