u/Own-Purpose-7473

Hey everyone,

I recently passed my CCNA and will be graduating soon with an Associate's degree in Network Management. I'm located in the Raleigh/Durham, NC area.

I'm considering applying for an AT&T Installation Technician position and wanted to get some insight from current or former employees.

My long-term goal is to move into networking roles such as Network Support, NOC Technician, Network Administrator, or eventually Network Engineer.

A few questions:

• Is the Installation Technician role a good entry point into AT&T for someone interested in networking?
• Have you seen technicians successfully move into network operations, engineering, or other IT-related roles internally?
• Does AT&T encourage internal mobility for employees who are earning certifications and continuing their education?
• Would the experience gained as an Installation Technician be viewed as relevant by hiring managers for future networking positions?

I understand the role involves customer service, troubleshooting, fiber/cabling, and field work. I'm not expecting it to be a networking job right away, but I'm trying to determine if it can be a stepping stone toward a networking career.

I'd appreciate any advice or experiences from people who have taken a similar path.

Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I recently passed my CCNA and I'll be graduating soon with an Associate's degree in Network Management.

I'm currently looking at a Field Technician position with Spectrum and was curious about the career growth opportunities from people who have worked there or currently work there.

My long-term goal is to move into networking roles such as Network Support, NOC Technician, Network Administrator, or eventually Network Engineer.

For those familiar with Spectrum:

• Is the Field Technician role a good entry point into the company?
• Have you seen people successfully move internally into network operations or engineering roles?
• Does management generally support internal transfers if you're earning certifications and gaining experience?
• Would this role be viewed as relevant experience for future networking positions?

I'm not opposed to starting in the field if it helps me get my foot in the door. I'm just trying to understand whether it's a realistic path toward networking or if it tends to be a separate career track.

I'd appreciate any insight from current or former Spectrum employees.

Thanks!

have my CCNA. I’m also working toward my Associate degree in Network Management graduating Spring 2027. I want to stay on the networking path long term and I’m trying to figure out the best way to approach this with no IT experience behind me.

Ideally I want to find a job before finishing school, but should I wait until I graduate? I’ve also read that you should have some real work experience before going for CCNP so I’m not sure if I should start studying for that now or hold off.

What’s next for someone with no IT experience after CCNA? And what can I do right now to build some real experience while I’m still in school?

Any advice appreciated.

Just passed the CCNA today, now I have to knock out the PCEP exam so that I don't have to take a required class at my school. This will help me save money. What's the best study resource?

I'm scheduled to take my CCNA on August 4th and wanted to get some opinions from people who have already passed.

Here are my Boson ExSim scores:

Exam A: 50%

Exam B: 58%

Exam D: 72%

Exam E: 66%

At first I was pretty discouraged by Exam E because it felt like I had taken a step backward. However, after reviewing my missed questions, I realized that quite a few of them were due to misreading the question or overlooking a key detail rather than not knowing the material. There were also some questions where I simply forgot information that I think I can clean up with more flashcard review, along with a few legitimate knowledge gaps.

A lot of my anxiety comes from feeling like I need to figure out my entire future in IT before I even fully enter the field. I’m constantly thinking about layoffs, AI, automation, cloud, networking, job security, salaries, certifications, and whether the path I’m choosing will still matter years from now. Even while I’m studying for the CCNA or making progress, my brain keeps jumping ahead asking if networking is still safe, if I should pivot to cloud, if AI will replace parts of infrastructure work, or if I’m already behind other people my age. Instead of fully focusing on the current step, I keep mentally trying to predict the entire industry and protect myself from ending up stuck or obsolete. That pressure makes every decision feel huge, like choosing the wrong certification or specialization could completely derail my future. Sometimes it feels like I’m carrying the weight of my entire career before it has even properly started.

The difficult part is that my anxiety hides behind research and preparation, so it can feel productive even when it’s draining me. I spend time comparing career paths, reading about layoffs, watching roadmap videos, looking at engineers already deep into networking or cloud, and trying to optimize every move before I fully commit to anything. From the outside it probably looks like ambition, but a lot of the time it’s really fear of uncertainty. I keep wanting guarantees before I move forward, but IT changes too fast for guarantees to exist. Deep down, I know most experienced engineers probably didn’t start their careers with total confidence either. They likely built confidence through years of troubleshooting, mistakes, outages, repetition, and real-world experience. I think my biggest challenge is learning how to stop trying to mentally solve my entire future in tech and instead trust that experience, consistency, and adaptability are what actually create long-term stability.

Collecting physical media of some of my favorite movies. Where should I go to purchase the Halloween DVD set?