Brian1875

Junior Member
Sep 20, 2016
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Ladies and Gents,

I recently landed a position as a Mid-level Network Engineer with a reputable consulting firm. However, all my job experience, although extensive, was gained in my last 4 years in the military. I have performed Systems/Network Administration and Engineering roles, with a heavy focus on Administration. With a strong enough background in Administration, the move to Engineering shouldn't be that difficult, but I am combing through tech forums to gather advice from those of you Network Engineers who have been working the civilian side of the house for a while. What do you think would help make the switch to Engineering quick and smooth? What are some usual tasks or scenarios you deal with? I am hoping to hear more from the consulting side of things. How does it work? As for my administration skills, I consider myself adept at programming routers and switches, although my knowledge on programming IPSEC DMVPN tunnels is lacking and I would be grateful for any material you might have on them.
 
Feb 25, 2011
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You probably have all the technical know-how you need, it's more a matter of thinking about architecture.

Just think about why you want to X instead of just how, and remember that whatever you do, it's important to consider the usability impacts.

Also, you're probably going to be what I call "solutioning" (i.e., designing solutions for clients based on their needs, and then implementing them.) So listen, be polite, and when you don't know something, remember you have 24 hours to come up with a good answer, so get to googling'. A bad answer is worse than a delayed answer.

If your clients think they're being heard and you can convince them that what you're giving them is the best option to fit their needs (even if it's absolutely the standard OoB setup that you've given your last 20 nearly-identical clients) they'll want to marry you.