what career path should i take - system administrator vs network administrator

[comore07]

does anyone here work in either field..............

[HearseMan]

Yea, being that my job title is LAN Administrator I can give you a bit of info.

I myself would go the Network path. I know in my company the sys. admin's are getting replaced or out sourced all over.

[rant]

Why pay a guy $50K to sit at a site and repair PC's and Printer's when you can get a service contract for both at a lot less, and then pay someone in say Poland $5 an hour to trouble shoot over the phone.

The Network Administrators, on average make about $15K more a year and do not normally have the low level user interaction. Sometimes it is a bit harder to outsource a network guy.

Another thing to think of is there are thousands of High School kids applying for the PC/Printer side of the work. They all go "I have a computer at Home and I fix my Friends." How many can go I got a router, Switch with Vlan,s, or a PIX box at home.


[/rant]

Cliff Note: Go network

[comore07]

Originally Posted by HearseMan

Yea, being that my job title is LAN Administrator I can give you a bit of info.

I myself would go the Network path. I know in my company the sys. admin's are getting replaced or out sourced all over.

[rant]

Why pay a guy $50K to sit at a site and repair PC's and Printer's when you can get a service contract for both at a lot less, and then pay someone in say Poland $5 an hour to trouble shoot over the phone.

The Network Administrators, on average make about $15K more a year and do not normally have the low level user interaction. Sometimes it is a bit harder to outsource a network guy.

Another thing to think of is there are thousands of High School kids applying for the PC/Printer side of the work. They all go "I have a computer at Home and I fix my Friends." How many can go I got a router, Switch with Vlan,s, or a PIX box at home.


[/rant]

Cliff Note: Go network

thanks bro, it seems though that entry level networking jobs are pretty much non existant. whats the best way to get the foot in the door? i wanted to go for my ccna....some people say that its not worth the paper its printed on nowdays... do did you get started?

thanks man.

[jason_bh]

Originally Posted by comore07

thanks bro, it seems though that entry level networking jobs are pretty much non existant. whats the best way to get the foot in the door? i wanted to go for my ccna....some people say that its not worth the paper its printed on nowdays... do did you get started?

thanks man.

Get the CCNA if you are looking to get your foot in the door somewhere. The knowledge and hands on experience that you get from that is a great start and worth it.

[Kirby28]

Originally Posted by HearseMan

Yea, being that my job title is LAN Administrator I can give you a bit of info.

I myself would go the Network path. I know in my company the sys. admin's are getting replaced or out sourced all over.

[rant]

Why pay a guy $50K to sit at a site and repair PC's and Printer's when you can get a service contract for both at a lot less, and then pay someone in say Poland $5 an hour to trouble shoot over the phone.

The Network Administrators, on average make about $15K more a year and do not normally have the low level user interaction. Sometimes it is a bit harder to outsource a network guy.

Another thing to think of is there are thousands of High School kids applying for the PC/Printer side of the work. They all go "I have a computer at Home and I fix my Friends." How many can go I got a router, Switch with Vlan,s, or a PIX box at home.


[/rant]

Cliff Note: Go network

Winnah^

[comore07]

bump

[Goofxta]

Network admins make more money on average I'd say. I've worked in some large companies and have spoken to a lot of people. Networking is where the money is my friend.