I made it!

Well, I feel pretty lucky and blessed. I moved to NYC three weeks ago and feel like I’m really starting to settle in. About 2 weeks ago I started the job search process. I interviewed for a position that I really wanted and they made me an official offer this morning! I’m finally going to be a Network Engineer – something I wanted since I took that fateful networking class in 2007.

I’m still studying for my BCMSN but I’m glad I completed the BSCI. They busted out some interesting WAN questions that I would not have known if I only had my CCNA. The LAN stuff they asked me was pretty straightforward, but my limited LAN knowledge proved to be pretty embarrassing. I couldn’t wait to move onto the WAN stuff. 😀

It did make me appreciate theory a lot more and I really want to re-read Doyle’s Routing TCP/IP. It’s on my list after I finish the switching stuff I’m focused on now. Speaking of which…

I’m really enjoying the INE CoD videos. I highly recommend them, especially if you can get them at the sale price. The best part is the recommended readings they provide after each section. The videos pointed me towards the Cisco LAN Switching book which seems to be the switching equivalent of the aforementioned routing book (albeit a bit outdated). It’s $65 new on Amazon, but I grabbed a never-opened “used” copy for $10! Seems like an incredible steal.

All this is probably overkill for the BCMSN exam, but I’m overcompensating for my limited LAN knowledge. And I want to take advantage of my currently motivated mindset.

Back to the books…