#NetworkingJob #StressFree #Realistic #WorkLifeBalance
Hey fellow networkers! 🌐💻 I’ve been diving deep into the world of networking for about 8 months now, and let me tell you, it’s been a rollercoaster of stress and excitement! Working with Cisco equipment for businesses can be both challenging and rewarding, especially when customers throw you those curveball requests for unique setups. 🎢
But here’s the thing – as much as I enjoy learning new things and expanding my knowledge of configurations, VLANs, BGP, and all that jazz, the stress can really take a toll. Imagine being on the go for 8 hours straight, multiple days a week! 😅
I’ve been pondering lately – is a stress-free networking job even realistic? Especially one that allows for a better work-life balance and maybe the luxury of working from home? 🏡💼
So, I’m reaching out to all you networking gurus out there for some advice and insights. How do you manage to keep your sanity intact while juggling the demands of the networking world? Any tips and tricks to share? 🧠💭
And let’s not forget the importance of brushing up on our skills – what other concepts do you think I should focus on to not only excel in my job but also reduce the stress levels? 📚💪
Let’s start a conversation and help each other out! Share your thoughts, experiences, and maybe even some funny networking anecdotes. Can’t wait to hear from you all! 📱💬 #NetworkingCommunity #WorkLifeHarmony #LearningTogether
>I work for an ISP
MSPs are notorious for overworking their engineers. However, if you’re new to networking there’s almost no better place to soak up knowledge and experience in such a short period of time. Generally the lowest stress jobs are at big companies where you are highly siloed and specialized. However, it can be hard to get broad experience at large companies because of the silos. Consulting and non-operational roles also tend to be lower stress in some cases, but it highly depends on the work. Some consultants are expected to be present for major changes after hours depending on the project. The great thing is there is a wide variety of networking roles and you can choose what to specialize and settle on as you grow your experience and try new things.
EDIT: Completely fumbled reading that acronym for some reason. ISP is not MSP.
>Is a stress-free networking job realistic?
Depends on how you define stress-free. There are high level planning and architecture roles where you won’t be putting out fires and *probably* won’t get called in the middle of the night; then again, there’s always the chance that something will get escalated to you.
Moving on from any kind of service provider to an in-house department is almost always less stress simply because you have fewer customers you need to worry about. Still, a lot will depend on the particular environment and you’re still going to have after hours maintenance windows and outages.
>Also what other concepts should I brush up on to give myself a good chance.
Scripting and network security will open doors.
I’ve been working in ISP space for 9 years and it’s pretty chill.
Most teams have been at least a dozen people if not more, so plenty of people to delegate work to if your plate is full. Just don’t try and take on everything, you’re probably burning yourself out by volunteering to do more work than is necessary.
The closest you’ll get to “stress-free” in networking IMO is either a government gig or being part of an internal infrastructure team for a large, public org.
You’ll have more people to share the load, so generally less overtime and less on-call hours (I’m part of a seven person rotation, so basically one week on/six weeks off). Teams are usually more granular, so you’ll be more specialized in what you’re working on. Large changes or projects will have to go through CAB approval and a bunch of red tape to get off the ground, so you’ll have less of the wild west, ad-hoc nonsense going on. You don’t have a bunch of external customers with different priorities and demands. You have more ownership of the comprehensive network and how it’s engineered and operates, so generally you’ll have a full understanding of all of the components and how they interoperate allowing for faster troubleshooting and triage.
This is just my experience. I’ve done network gigs at all sorts of companies, and this is by far my least stressful job. Some people consider these types of roles boring, but I feel like I’ve paid my dues in enough “exciting” jobs at this point and my work is no longer my primary area of focus/interest in life. The biggest challenge is having the self discipline to stay motivated and to keep your skills relevant.
Up to the specific point in time, which every IT person knows, that something really breaks: Yes;
from this specific point in time: No, and you will lose decades of your life, in way less than some hours.
8 hours straight eh? I would kill for only 8 hours a day…IT doesn’t hand out six figure salaries for a typical 9-5′, have to go into the trades for that.