Career advice thingy

[krycor]

So i've been wondering for yr now and i reckon i will ask here as most people are in the telecoms industry but.. what does one need to do to work as a radio network engineer ? interms of study beyond bsc(eng)? I'm thinking msc but then i know quite a few who didn't hence my confusion. Anyway currently deciding whether to do short courses(engineering cpd courses) as university this yr or cisco(x3 finally). Been wanting to do something but needed a job now managed to get one temporarily now wondering what's the best way forward.

 

[Voicy]

You can do your National Diploma (3yrs incl. 1 yr practical) in electrical engineering where you specialize in radio comms. You study for a year, then do 6 months in service training, then another year studying and then another 6 months practical.

That should get you waxed enough to decide whether it's what you thought it would be and whether you'd like to pursue a B.Tech degree in it or rather go networks route i.e. Cisco courses...although the two are completely different.

The only thing worse than not knowing what you want to study is studying the wrong thing.

 

[Sting]

In which environment do you want to specialise?
Planning/design of network or building it? Or network management?
Or all three?

In most of your bigger companies you will be trained in all 3 initially but will then have to specialise in one of them.

 

[krycor]

Read again, I have a bsc(eng) electrical and computer eng in telecoms and embedded. The tech is useless for me other than the fact that they place you in a job, was thinking of doing a btech with them(for that reason). You are right though, cisco has nothing to do with radio eng i want to do cellular etc.

Well beginning of the month i got the final rounds for a position with IS but then i saw local company here doing dev work and thought ok, after 18 months of sitting with a thumb up my arse i will do the development work then while that's happening decide on what to study part time to achieve my final objective(rather than taking a chance and then be sitting on arse for longer.. i think this was a big mistake now).

Anyway.. was looking at course at stellenbosch university and uct and trying to decide what's better cisco courses ccna, ccnp + one of the others maybe a ccie? OR do the ecsa approved cpd(continuing professional development) stuff like project management stuff. Both won't get me where i want to be i reckon but its a toss up between getting a better job in 6 months time or doing the cpd stuff and then attempting to get in for masters in 2011.

 

[Voicy]

Ah my apologies...

Btech won't help you much at all then compared to what you have.

 

[Palimino]

...stuff like project management stuff.

Go for the technical stuff. Project management’s easy (my experience). You are more involved in budgets, timescales, people management, spreadsheets, administration, etc. With an in-depth knowledge of your discipline and a superficial knowledge of the systems that interface with you, technical knowledge wins hands-down. Pick-up what you need in PM.

[RANT]There are not parallel advancement tracks for technical and management. I have seen a 1st class technical person become a mediocre PM because that was the only promotion route open to him. Everyone loses.[/RANT]

 

[krycor]

Yup and i'm more interested in technical things than sitting with paper work or in office.

I think what i will do is see what stellenbosch uni offers in subject matter. Its not that i don't like programming or something its just, i see it as a means to an end. Anyway I got the nxt 6months to yr to figure out next step, study and fix up for 2011.

 

[Palimino]

Yup and i'm more interested in technical things than sitting with paper work or in office.

I think what i will do is see what stellenbosch uni offers in subject matter. Its not that i don't like programming or something its just, i see it as a means to an end. Anyway I got the nxt 6months to yr to figure out next step, study and fix up for 2011.

The troubling thing is, in time (unless things change) the only advancement route open to you will be “sitting with paper work or in office”.

[RANT]There are not parallel advancement tracks for technical and management. I have seen a 1st class technical person become a mediocre PM because that was the only promotion route open to him. Everyone loses.[/RANT]

Then you will be in the bind of knowing what your workers are doing and micromanaging stuff (intensely annoying to the workers). Heigh-ho. The tribulations of the career you have chosen.

 

[krycor]

yup, eventually. Similarly rne involves some programing/dev work too hence i don't mind the current things im doing as it involves same things directly thus my timescale is about 1yr maybe 2yrs in which i need to do/study something in addition such that its possible to make the move that way. Was thinking meng(more course work + small thesis) but i see its 3yr thing part time which is long. I think i will go see the proffessors at stellenbosch when they get back in a week or two.