Mods - i don't consider this to be "early career advice" since you define that as someone who is looking to get into networking (I'm already there). If you must remove this post, go ahead, but it would mean a lot to me to hear any opinions and advice.
I don't post in this sub that often, but I figured I'd ask for some opinions on my current situation. I'm currently working as a graduate network engineer, with some prior experience from various internships/placements etc. This role is very different to any I've had before, there is basically no hands-on networking (patching, installations, etc) and that's something I enjoy a lot.
The role is very remote (even without covid, it would still be remote given I work for a global company). When I joined, I was told that I would be trained up and be mentored by another 1-2 network guys. The issue is, I haven't really been given that much in the way of what I would consider thorough training or mentoring. I tend to be shown bits and pieces for specific jobs, when the people mentoring me are not busy.
I also have some learning difficulties in the sense that it takes me a lot longer to pick up things than others, and my Cisco knowledge has somewhat disappeared over the last few years, given that we worked with HPE kit in my previous role. So what I'm feeling is, I'm not being shown enough to feel comfortable in doing my job, but at the same time I feel that my own background knowledge isn't up to scratch.
It seems to be the most basic things that I have to ask for help with, and then wait 30 minutes for someone to come off of a Teams call to help me.
The other issue I'm facing is that I'm being handed network troubleshooting tickets to work on when I don't even know where to start. The company is hugely confusing to me, with about 4 different sets of logins before I can access a switch to even try some basic troubleshooting. It just feels very... time consuming to me, like I spend most of my time figuring out where to go, and passing login screens, then when I finally get onto the correct device to check things, I am bummed out because I don't *really* have that troubleshooting experience, especially in the context of this complex organisation.
I feel like they were looking for a graduate, but assume a fair bit of prior experience from me, which is just not the case. It doesn't matter how many times I have mentioned this to my boss or colleagues, they just seem to not have the time to spend with me to get me to the point where I'd be comfortable in the role.
So my question is... is this a me problem? I can't help but think that if I was in a network role at a smaller, less confusing company, I could absolutely learn and thrive there. Something like an in-house engineer for some campus network.
I understand there are things I could do to help my case (re-study my CCNA, brush up on troubleshooting, etc). But right now, I just don't have the passion or motivation in this role to want to do that, which is why I would appreciate any advice you more experienced engineers may be able to offer.
Have you been in a role that just wasn't compatible with you before? Did you find a new job right away or did you try and make it work?
Apologies for the wall of text. Hope you all have a good day/evening :)
No comments:
Post a Comment