Hey, I was just looking to maybe get in contact with someone working in computer networking because I start my career at Devry in Jan. and I was wondering what I could expect to be doing in school, and after school. And wondering if I could go to barnes and noble and pick up some books or so to start doing some research and get ahead of the game. My plan is to study Computer Networking and Management and get my associates then start my career, and then go back for my bachelor's while I maintain a job.

You will probably be learning things like cabling, Ethernet and TCP/IP, routing, server mgmt etc.

You might want to try getting books on Windows Server, Active Directory, UNIX, Linux, etc.

Will I be working in like ms-dos and stuff like that? Is it more software or hardware oriented?

No MS-DOS no longer exists. It hasn't existed for more than 10 years (since 1995.).

You will probably learn to use the command line in several OSes. But Network Management is a little more hardware oriented.

So basically the same thing on different OS's ? What would I be getting hired to do in a real job?

Configuring the OS's is a minor portion of the scope. In a large organization, you may not even do that.

CISCO runs the business world and you should be familiar with their products.

Networking does have a design portion of the cableing and a physical portion.

Then there is an application layer as well, where you might be concerned about VOIP, video distribution, security, firewalls etc. You need to protect the internal network from attack.

I see, so get cisco certified? I recall my uncle telling me that, will I do well with my career coming out of Devry? They are supposed to be good at getting careers and such but that could be solid bs, so anyone know?

My son earned three master's degrees through DeVry. The school is well-respected around Chicago, and they will help you job hunt.

All right, thanks everyone

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Originally Posted by LifeChangesMan

i see, so get cisco certified?

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If you can get Cisco certified and are good at it, you can be assured of full time employment pretty much forever.

Yeah, so I'll set that out to be my goal then, is that something offered from devry or somewhere else?

Degrees and certifications do not mean that you have learned everything you need to know to do a job. But they do mean that you can stick with something and finish it and that you are educated and can learn new things.

Do not get me wrong, I have both a BS degree and computer industry certifications. However, I have worked with people who are good on paper but not in the real world. Talk to people who are in the business you want to go into and learn from them. And remember that every company is different. You will also learn the corporate culture and the way that they do things so your learning continues well beyond your first job.

I have been working on computers since the mainframe and teletype were used and have been employed in this business for 16 years now and it is still a challenge. You asked if you would get a "real job" in this business. You most ceartainly can and be paid very well for it if you learn each every day you are doing it.