❓ Help College IT Track

[Javier Juan]

hi po! incoming 3rd year college student po ako and we will now decide kung anong track po yung pipiliin namin. for me, im stuck sa choice and can't decide if Track 1 (Programming) or Track 3 (Networking). honestly po, passion ko po talaga mag coding kaya nag tinake ko po talaga yung IT. but lately, hindi ko na po maramdaman yung passion na yun. maybe because sobrang na-exhaust ako, or because of AIs? and during 2nd semester ko nung 2nd year, doon ko na po na-discover yung networking. it was very hard lalo na't cisco, but may natutunan naman po ako.

now, i must decide on what track will I pursue. for me, I want to take track 3. BUT, maraming ayaw sa track 3 dahil daw po sa dami ng gastos and OJT and Capstone. is this true po ba? so, Track 1 might seem like the easier way out sa college. Its like "to survive" or "to challenge". and hindi po ako maka-decide dahil sa takot. If I want to pursue track 1 naman, i guess I'll reignite that passion ulit and start to learn ulit from the start and practice.

Any message or tips or advice po para sakin? so that I'll come up my final decision. Thank you very much po for reading this.

 

[ayehpasaway]

for me lang ah, .. mas mag focus ka sa networking. Y? if balak mo mag apply sa mga private company yan tlga una nilang hinahahap. karamihan sa mga i.t. grads ngayon pag nasa production floor na eh parang nagiging kamote.
may kakilala ako grad ng ST* pero simple file sharing at printer sharing hindi nila magawa.. ultimo network cabling walang alam.. bawat galaw google search ginagawa.. Sobrang nakakahiya un..
karamihan sa mga private company ngayon, Program based na.. ang kailangan lang nila eh yung mag me maintenance ng running program nila , more on technical trouble shooting lang..

 

[plhbg1]

yung programming requires "creative" skills kaya yun pwede mo gawing basis sa choice mo, how creative you are, otherwise dun ka sa networking

 

[Nokubi Nana]

Actually, depende talaga kung saan ka nag eenjoy, ako kasi sa programming, mas gusto ko yung challenge na hindi ko alam kung tama pa ba ginagawa ko, malalaman ko nalang pagka run, tapos edit edit nalang, pag gumana, sobrang laking tuwa ko na kasi polishing nalang, tapos di ko namamalayan 20hrs na pala ako nakaupo sa pc, mabilis talaga tumakbo ang oras pag gusto mo yung ginagawa mo eh. hahaha

 

[nitro7]

di mo naman kailangan i-give up ang programming para matuto ng networking, ah. bakit mo kailangan mamili sa dalawa? i would suggest na ituloy mo 'yang software engineering (programming), and find opportunities to learn about networking.

if you have the time to squeeze it in, o maski pagka-graduate, get into a networking course. the Cisco library is as good a start as any, pero naging revenue-earner na ito para sa kanila - certifications expire. pero 'wag ka mag-focus sa certification, kundi sa matututunan mo. tapos, kung me budget, setup a home lab - a router, a couple of managed L2 (preferrably L3) switches, old PCs to test connectivity with. and keep learning.

this is the real world. kahit anong galing mo pa sa networking courses, bitin 'yan pag napunta ka sa tulad namin. in fact, maski network engineers ng big telco, minsan kapos pa rin. kasi di naman lahat sa kanila nandun sa level na nag-dedesign at nagte-test ng network. 90% d'yan eh susundin lang 'yung network architect. also, pagdating sa live network, mostly setup and monitor lang 'yan. basta gumana na, avoid downtime as much as possible. di rin lahat me access sa test lab, at kung meron man, wala naman freedom to experiment.

as a path you could possibly consider - embedded software engineer for networking products. or developing apps for network management (large-scale commercial networks). while most grads have a good concept of networking, they're a long way from the level of mastery required. we hire grads (NZ) who are very good at programming and teach them the networking and wireless transport part. kung interesado ka, matututunan 'yan.

'wag ka rin magpa-sindak sa Cisco, they still need to comply with the standards. different makers (Cisco, Juniper, Huawei, Nokia, Mikrotik, etc.) have different ways of configuring and setting things up, but they all have to work together. i've lost count of how many issues that came my way na tipong, "it's ok with Cisco, but not with Huawei"! ang problema kasi sa mga RFC na 'yan, eh maraming "recommended" parts na di lahat ng products ay nag-iimplement. it's not unusual to get a feature request to guarantee interoperability with 3rd parting devices.

networking is really not that hard. pag nasanay ka na. hehehe

 

[Javier Juan]

di mo naman kailangan i-give up ang programming para matuto ng networking, ah. bakit mo kailangan mamili sa dalawa? i would suggest na ituloy mo 'yang software engineering (programming), and find opportunities to learn about networking.

if you have the time to squeeze it in, o maski pagka-graduate, get into a networking course. the Cisco library is as good a start as any, pero naging revenue-earner na ito para sa kanila - certifications expire. pero 'wag ka mag-focus sa certification, kundi sa matututunan mo. tapos, kung me budget, setup a home lab - a router, a couple of managed L2 (preferrably L3) switches, old PCs to test connectivity with. and keep learning.

this is the real world. kahit anong galing mo pa sa networking courses, bitin 'yan pag napunta ka sa tulad namin. in fact, maski network engineers ng big telco, minsan kapos pa rin. kasi di naman lahat sa kanila nandun sa level na nag-dedesign at nagte-test ng network. 90% d'yan eh susundin lang 'yung network architect. also, pagdating sa live network, mostly setup and monitor lang 'yan. basta gumana na, avoid downtime as much as possible. di rin lahat me access sa test lab, at kung meron man, wala naman freedom to experiment.

as a path you could possibly consider - embedded software engineer for networking products. or developing apps for network management (large-scale commercial networks). while most grads have a good concept of networking, they're a long way from the level of mastery required. we hire grads (NZ) who are very good at programming and teach them the networking and wireless transport part. kung interesado ka, matututunan 'yan.

'wag ka rin magpa-sindak sa Cisco, they still need to comply with the standards. different makers (Cisco, Juniper, Huawei, Nokia, Mikrotik, etc.) have different ways of configuring and setting things up, but they all have to work together. i've lost count of how many issues that came my way na tipong, "it's ok with Cisco, but not with Huawei"! ang problema kasi sa mga RFC na 'yan, eh maraming "recommended" parts na di lahat ng products ay nag-iimplement. it's not unusual to get a feature request to guarantee interoperability with 3rd parting devices.

networking is really not that hard. pag nasanay ka na. hehehe

so much learnings from this po and thank you so much sa insights! But I decided last year po na to choose track 1 specialization na po. I think ok na rin po sa akin ito. And I'd say naging practical lang po talaga due to financial po. And yes po, i agree na to learn continuously. Hindi lang po dapat sa programming. As a matter of fact po, Im taking courses sa coursera po during this vacation. and Im learning naman po both networking and programming. Turning 4th year na po ako ngayong August, at ang goal ko po talaga ay ma-balance ang capstone at OJT para makapagtapos. and im hoping po, and I really really want to be prepared for the actual industry and makaya ko itong real work/world scenarios, and not just inside our school. Thank you so much sa encouragement po! Malaking tulong po ito para sakin. Stay safe and Godbless po

 

[kenesuino]

Appreciate this post! Thanks boss.

 

[nitro7]

so much learnings from this po and thank you so much sa insights! But I decided last year po na to choose track 1 specialization na po. I think ok na rin po sa akin ito. And I'd say naging practical lang po talaga due to financial po. And yes po, i agree na to learn continuously. Hindi lang po dapat sa programming. As a matter of fact po, Im taking courses sa coursera po during this vacation. and Im learning naman po both networking and programming. Turning 4th year na po ako ngayong August, at ang goal ko po talaga ay ma-balance ang capstone at OJT para makapagtapos. and im hoping po, and I really really want to be prepared for the actual industry and makaya ko itong real work/world scenarios, and not just inside our school. Thank you so much sa encouragement po! Malaking tulong po ito para sakin. Stay safe and Godbless po

you have the right mindset. ganyan din ako, back in the day. i had access to TESDA, so always spent summer on courses there.
a couple more things to stress about being an expert:

• lahat ng expert ay nagsimula as a total newbie
  • sino ba ang hindi? when i started on my first job, one of my uncles told me, "what you learned in school/uni is what your instructors/professors learned, or what was printed in the reference books back in the day". this always changes; perhaps not the facts but there's always something new. and there are better ways to learn with a little experience. actually, kung minsan pati 'yung facts nagbabago. remember, ang turo ni Ptolemy (at ng simbahan) dati ay ang mundo ang gitna ng kalawakan (geocentric universe).
• "an expert is one who knows where to find the answer" - from a college prof
  • hindi lahat ng solusyon nasa utak mo, pero alam mo kung saan kukunin ito. you may have to do some testing to get it, but you know what you need to do to get there.
• you have work to stay an expert
  • pag narating mo 'yung expert status at tumigil ka, in a few years panis ka na dahil sa bilis ng technology

at isa pa... which i commonly see these days - habang nagsisimula, 'wag kang maghanap ng WFH. maraming iba pang bagay na matututunan sa workplace. hindi lamang technical. isang halimbawa ay 'yung pakikitungo sa katrabaho, kahit bwisit ka dito, is a very useful skill to hone. kung paano mag-share ng mga nalalaman mo. kung paano magtanong/matuto from those who know more than you do. eventually, kung paano mag-manage ng team, or teams.