Construction to IT
Time for a change. I’ve been in construction for 20 years, good money, but the travel keeps me away from my family more than I want.
I’ve spent the last while building a serious homelab: 7-VLAN network with default-deny segmentation between zones, a self-hosted DNS resolver, Suricata IDS/IPS, and a mesh VPN setup to get around CGNAT for remote access. Currently studying for CCNA and working through Network+ and Security+.
Trying to figure out if a networking career switch is realistic. Given hands-on experience like this, is it actually possible to skip the help-desk detour and go straight for NOC/network tech roles, or is that wishful thinking? Also aware I’d likely take a real pay cut from where I’m at now in construction — curious how big and for how long people have seen that go.
What would you add to my prep, or what am I missing that’s obvious to people already in the field?