Network Engineering Tips: Find Your Voice

Written By: Derek Winchester

Being a network engineer is certainly not for the faint at heart. Nevertheless, if you are a newbie to the industry or someone who is a minority in the field (i.e. a woman or minority), it can be difficult to be confident enough to express your ideas fully in those intimidating board meetings filled with industry veterans. However, if you want to build a long-term career within the field, you need to be confident, forward-thinking, steadfast and, most importantly, never allow anyone to speak for you.

Indeed, in order to have a thriving career that is upwardly mobile, you must know who you are as an engineer and what you bring to the table. With that in mind, the following is a list of tips to help you find your voice as a network engineer.

Study Hard

As you are likely already aware, being a network engineer requires you to stay abreast of all information that is pertinent to your field. No matter if it's automation, DevOps, the DevNet, Ansible or any related topics, you need to always be learning and studying to ensure that you have a full grasp on all existing and emerging concepts impacting the field.

The following is a list of methods that will allow you to continue to learn and develop your skills after you have already entered the field.

?         Listen to Your Co-Workers and Managers: One of the top methods of continuing your education after you enter the field is by listening to your co-workers and managers. In your daily interactions with various professionals at the workplace, you will often hear of new terms and fresh perspectives that you were not aware of. Every time a new concept or term catches your ear, write it down and make it a point to research it later.

?         Fall in Love with Learning: Additionally, if you are working as a network engineer, hopefully, this means you have a genuine love for the field. If so, you should make it a point to follow everything that relates to the social engineering field, and your specialty, in particular. This could mean anything from subscribing to magazines, such as NetworkWorld, as well as following various pages and professionals that provide information on the subject of network engineering.

?         Enroll in Professional Development Programs: Lastly, another option is to enroll in professional development programs. By periodically enrolling in these programs, you will be able to learn new skills, terms, and concepts that are just emerging within the field of network engineering.

Speak with Purpose

Moreover, as someone who is new to the field or just establishing your career, you may often feel discouraged because others do not seem to value your voice or opinions. However, the remedy to this is not about being loud or aggressive. Rather, you simply need to make sure that you are saying things that add value to the conversation. In other words, it doesn't matter how often you speak, as long as you make sure you are adding value to the conversation when you do speak.

Speaking with purpose means that you should make sure that your thoughts are well-organized and easy to understand. It also means that you should communicate as a leader and with confidence. No matter if you're nervous and even if your voice quivers a tad, you should speak in a manner that lets everyone in the room know that you are confident about what you're saying and that showcases your ability to be a leader in your own right. So, even if you only make one meaningful comment per meeting, this is far better than haphazardly stating incomplete thoughts or simply speaking for the sake of getting attention.

Overall, if you are new to the field, working as a network engineer can be very intimidating. People will talk over you, ignore you, and sometimes, they may even antagonize you for your lack of experience. However, as long as you learn to find your voice and use it with purpose, you will be well on your way to establishing yourself as a major force within the industry. No matter what your specialty is or how much experience you have, finding your voice is the key to being successful in the long-term.