Network engineer : Training

Many colleges and private training organisations participate in the Cisco  Networking Academy programme, which provides certification at several levels for students.

Whatever knowledge you already have when you enter this field, you can be sure that in this rapidly changing industry, with so many and such frequent advances, you will need to make training a constant part of your career development. Large companies may send you on appropriate training courses and will provide training for you as they introduce new systems or expand their IT facilities, but you will often find that you need to seek out appropriate training for yourself, especially if you are seeking promotion or a career move.

Relevant qualifications include:

• MCSA (Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator) and MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer);
• CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Network+ certification;
• Certified Novell Engineer (CNE) and other Novell certifications;
• Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT) and/or Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA) or Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA).

Courses may be expensive and you may have to pay the fees yourself, so make sure they are relevant by checking that they cover the topics most frequently mentioned in job vacancies.

e-skills UK - The Sector Skills Council for Business and Information Technology has developed a graduate certification scheme, the Graduate Professional Development Award (GDPA), in collaboration with higher education institutions, which is a training framework for the development of undergraduates, new graduates and postgraduates in the workplace.