Network pros know they have the best job, 11/12/01

Being a network professional is more fun than ought to be allowed at the office because . . . well, you fill in the blank.

We recently asked 10 such folks to tell us what they liked best about their chosen profession. Their responses ran the gamut from musings on the job as a higher calling to Letterman-like insights into networking's inner child.

"The absolute best thing about being in the business is when someone recognizes your capabilities and is appreciative of your knowledge," says Glenn Bloom, who toils as a troubleshooter for the Federal Aviation Administration. "It's great when they ask for you by name out of a group of other technicians because you are the guy who gets things really fixed . . . not just Band-Aid-fixed."

In other words, being the man behind the curtain is quite a kick.

"Networking offers a unique combination of puzzle-solving and gnostic mystery," says Edward Ahlsen-Girard, a network manager at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. These qualities let him be "Mr. Wizard," even when dealing with the brightest people in his organization.

Some see the job as an adrenaline booster.

"As a former firefighter, when there is a problem, I get close to the same rush as when there was a true fire to put out," says Bill Verzal, a network manager at Komatsu America International in Vernon Hills, Ill.

A number of respondents see the job as one big buffet table.

David Letterman can't top this Two Network World readers name why they love the profession, in Top 10 list fashion. (Second list) Top 10 reasons networking is the best career, according to Kirk Skinner, manager of video collaboration, Global Systems & Strategies:
10.	The boss has no clue what I'm doing.
9.	The boss has no clue why I'm doing it.
8.	I can screw it up and blame it on the latest virus.
7.	I get to play with the latest toys.
6.	The network operations center (NOC) is ALWAYS air conditioned.
5.	The people I work with HAVE to be intelligent (they wouldn't make it otherwise).
4.	I can play "Everquest" and rationalize it as network testing.
3.	I can play "Half-Life Counter-Strike" and rationalize it as . . . hmmmmm . . . NETWORK TESTING!
2.	I can run DiscJockey.com in the NOC as a connectivity indicator.
	And the No. 1 reason networking is the best career:
1.	It keeps me engaged in an industry that is literally changing the socioeconomic boundaries of the entire world while effectively bringing the concept of freedom within the grasp of any individual with a connection to the 'Net. That, brings value to my existence.

"Networking is a fun, creative endeavor," says Larry Olin Horn, a project manager for the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. "Ultimately, you're just shoveling bits - but there are such cool ways to do it. You're not just doing networking for its own sake, you learn what and why someone wants or needs to use it, and you get to do that for many different people."

Networking affords the opportunity to be a jack of all trades or a master of one.

"I really like the diversity," says Steve Miller, programming manager/network administrator for Regal-Beloit in Beloit, Wis. "There are so many different aspects of networking and so many different network environments that you should be able to find something to fit your skills and interests. You can be a generalist and dabble in a bit of everything, or a specialist in areas like security, user help or network configuration."

The job routinely provides a sense of accomplishment, says Dave Shipman, network services manager for a multinational company based in Massachusetts. One such project for Shipman involved creating an internal scheduling tool using ColdFusion, Microsoft Access, SQL and a small JavaScript module, the last three of which he had little familiarity with.

"Within about three weeks, I had the system up and running, written from scratch, and with a few tweaks, it's now a standard tool for our production staff," Shipman says. "Without that project, I wouldn't have had the incentive to learn basic database management, SQL programming, JavaScript or the advanced tricks I picked up with ColdFusion. . . . That's the kind of thing that makes my job a blast."

Of course, satisfaction and enjoyment don't put food on the table. Networking does have more tangible rewards, notes Dave Byrkit, a self-employed computer consultant/trainer in Peoria, Ill., who recently left a job as a corporate e-mail administrator.

Top 10 reasons it's good to be in the network business according to Joel Snyder, senior partner for technology consulting firm OpusOne and Network World Global Test Alliance member:
10.	You understand each and every Dilbert cartoon - even the ones about ISDN D channels - because [Dilbert creator] Scott Adams used to be in the network business.
9.	You can say 'nontrivial exercise in futility' and "hit upside the head with a clue-by-four" at lunch and everyone else knows what you're talking about.
8.	E-mail, e-mail, e-mail.
7.	You never have to feel like some idiot is running your network and doing a bad job. (You are that idiot.)
6.	You always have the possibility of actually talking to clue-full individuals such as Vint Cerf and Radia Perlman.
5.	More jobs than people keeps salaries high.
4.	You got a good domain name when there were still some out there.
3.	The poor economy is no real problem because equipment costs are dropping faster than they can cut your budget.
2.	You bought Cisco when it was cheap because you could see it had good stuff (and you're still making money at $19 a share).
	And the No. 1 reason it's good to be in the network business:
1.	All the bandwidth you can eat.

"Throughout this journey I always felt fairly well paid," Byrkit says. "I had chosen a field that could keep my family decently provided for."

The job isn't all sweetness and light, mind you, but fits the bill often enough.

"Networking as a career is a pain and a half," says Roy Schweiker, an independent consultant from Concord, N.H. "Someone is always changing a protocol or some hardware, and there seems to be a neverending battle between hackers' tricks and manufacturers' carelessness, with the poor network person stuck in between. But that's the dark side. The good side is that more people want more things connected - once it was just computers, then PDAs, then cars and they're still talking about toasters - so there is plenty of work and you're doing business-critical stuff, so visibility is high."

Being able to understand geek humor is another great benefit of being in networking, according to a pair of respondents who offered their "bests" in the form of David Letterman-like Top 10 lists.

"You understand each and every Dilbert cartoon - even the ones about ISDN D channels - because [Dilbert creator] Scott Adams used to be in the networking business," says Joel Snyder, a senior partner at OpusOne, a technology testing firm in Tucson, Ariz. "You can also say 'nontrivial exercise in futility' and "hit upside the head with a clue-by-four' at lunch and everyone else knows what you're talking about."

Kirk Skinner, manager of video collaboration at Global Systems & Strategies in Vienna, Va., offers a variation on the theme: "I can play 'Everquest' and rationalize it as network testing. I can play "Half-Life Counter-Strike' and rationalize it as . . . hmmm . . . NETWORK TESTING!"

But Skinner drops the stand-up routine for his No. 1 reason why networking is the best career:

"It keeps me engaged in an industry that is literally changing the socioeconomic boundaries of the entire world while effectively bringing the concept of freedom within the grasp of any individual with a connection to the 'Net," he says. "That brings value to my existence."

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