3 Ways To Reinvent Yourself As A Network Engineer

Network engineering as a job has changed dramatically in the past two decades. In the past, network engineers were responsible for keeping the network running, but today's task is much more complex. Digital transformation, automation, orchestration and infrastructure changes have opened up new possibilities and expanded the scope of the role. In this new digital age, optimizing business results has become an industry-wide priority.

With the advent of intent-based networking, the role of network technicians will continue to shift. In addition, the half-life of newly acquired skills is currently around 2.5 years, which makes it questionable to keep up with this rapidly accelerating pace of innovation. What's the best way to acquire the right skills and ensure future success? Last week, I met with industry leaders at the Software-Defined Enterprise Conference and Expo to discuss this. Here are three ways you can reinvent yourself as a networkengineer:

Learn From Your Team

It takes a long time to become an expert on something. Malcolm Gladwell generally defines expertise as 10,000 hours of experience. How can you foresee the development time of this incredibly long specialist knowledge? Talk to those who have been there, learn from their mistakes and challenges, and constantly refer to them as a resource.

Your team is one of your most valuable resources. Listen to them, talk to them, and learn together. It's not just about getting knowledge from others. Share it with others too. Explicitly take the time to share ideas and collaborate. In addition to asking your team about new skills, ask about different areas of your larger organization or company. Contribute to a culture of sharing, learning and educating to fuel your own growth and development and to reinvent yourself as a network technician.

Justify Your Learning And Celebrate Your Success

Team sharing speeds learning and development. Training and certification make this growth concrete. Eight of the ten managers agree that Cisco certified individuals are more knowledgeable and valuable to the company. According to the Cisco Certification Value survey, they can take on more responsibility, be more respected, and nurtured by their peers. What are you looking for? Do you want to reinvent yourself? Start training to get certified. This is the best way to flex the muscles of your career and prove that you really can take on a bigger role or move into a new position. When you're certified and reaching your next career goal, celebrate your success, but don't expect this to end your reinvention.

Embark On A Continuous Learning Journey

You no longer learn what happened at a certain point in time, but rather on an ongoing journey. To become a continuous learner, thinking needs to be changed from a fixed mindset to a growing mindset, as mentioned in Carol Dweck's popular book. Having a growth philosophy means opening up to new opportunities, new tactics, new technologies and ultimately becoming more flexible. Leveraging team learning and more formal training to become a flexible and continuous learner with a growth philosophy creates new career opportunities and ultimately long-term success. I'm done.