1.9.3 Lab – Research IT and Networking Job Opportunities
Objectives
- Research Job Opportunities
Background / Scenario
Jobs in Information Technology (IT) and computer networking continue to grow. Most employers require some form of industry standard certification, degree, or other qualifications from their potential employees, especially those with limited experience. The Cisco CCNA certification is a known and established entry-level networking certification that is respected in the industry. There are additional levels and kinds of Cisco certifications that one can attain, and each certification may enhance employment opportunities as well as salary range.
In this lab, you will complete targeted job searching on the web to find what types of IT and computer networking jobs are available; what kinds of skills and certifications you will need; and the salary ranges associated with the various job titles.
Required Resources
- Device with Internet access
Instructions
You will use a web browser to visit the popular job listing websites, such as monster.com and salary.com.
Step 1: Open a web browser and go to a job listing website.
In the URL address bar type http://monster.com and press Enter.
Note: For job listings outside of the U.S., use the following link to search for your country: http://www.monster.com/geo/siteselection/
Step 2: Search for networking related jobs.
a. Type the word Network Administrator in the Keyword or Title box. Click Find Jobs to continue.
Research IT and Networking Job Opportunities
b. Notice the search results. Now, focus your search by adding terms to the search for Network Administrator. Try terms like Cisco CCNA, CCNP, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, etc.
c. Now try refining your search by adding different geographical locations. Did you find jobs in the locations you entered?
Answers will vary.
d. Try searching a different website. Go to http://www.salary.com and click the Job Search menu bar button.
Note: For salary listings outside of the U.S., use the following link to search for your country: http://www.payscale.com/rccountries.aspx
e. Add a search term like Information Technology to the Job title or Keyword field box and click Get my salary estimate.
f. Note the large number of matching search results. Select a job title that interests you. Click SHOW MY SALARY ESTIMATE RESULTS.
g. Spend time searching for jobs and looking through the search results. Take note of what skills are required for different job titles and the range of starting salaries.
Reflection Questions
Answer the following questions based on your research findings.
1. What job titles did you search for?
Computer Science and Information Technology
2. What skills or certifications were required?
A lot of different certifications and college education was required for various things, as well as experience, passion, commitment, teamwork skills, etc.
3. Did you find any jobs that you previously did not know existed? If so, what were they?
The ones I saw I knew about already, because my father and mother’s fiancee work in the computer field as a senior software engineer and IT respectively.
4. Did you find any jobs that you are interested in? If so, which ones and what skills or certifications do they require?
I saw a job opening for Senior Software Engineer. The love of solving problems is important. The job requires knowledge of EC2, Hadoop, Solr, JBoss, and Hibernate programs. The job works with data sets. Requires 0-15 years of industry experience, B.S. in Computer Science. A strong knowledge of Java and some other programs are pluses. Good presentation skills and the ability to talk intelligently and passionately about the interesting challenges projects presented are important as well.
