Re: Looking for a Tier 1 ISP Mentor for career advice.

[Keegan Holley <keegan.holley () sungard com>]

2011/11/21 <Valdis.Kletnieks () vt edu>

> On Sun, 20 Nov 2011 21:40:08 EST, Tyler Haske said:
>
> > I'm looking for a mentor who can help me focus my career so eventually I
> > wind up working at one of the Tier I ISPs as a senior tech. I want to
> > handle the big pipes that hold everyone's data.
>
> OK, so I'm not a mentor from a Tier-1, and I don't directly monkey with
> routers
> as part of $DAYJOB.  But anyhow... :)
>
> With great power comes great responsibility.  Be prepared for high stress
> levels. ;)
>
> Also, keep in mind that unless you're insanely brilliant, three things
> will happen
> before you get experienced enough to be a senior tech at a Tier 1:
>
> 1) You will have grey hair (at least some).
>
> Not at all required.. Although you may grow a few belt loops and maybe
ruin a marriage or two trying to get there early.  Also, don't forget to
read, cert guides, config guides, websites, RFC's.  Grey hair and wisdom
aren't mutually inclusive.




> 3) You'll have learned that handling a big pipe at a Tier 1 isn't all
> there is
> to running a network - and in fact, quite often the Really Cool Toys are
> elsewhere.  Sure, they may have the fastest line cards, but they're going
> to
> tend to lag on feature sets just because you *don't* want to deploy
> cutting-edge code if you're a Tier-1.


Totally agree.  I touch alot of routers some of them close to what  Tier-1
would use.  I also have a few friends that work in large ISP's.  I'd say
their ultimate goal is to touch a little as possible which is usually as
unglamorous as it sounds.  Also, alot of things are scripted so much of
what you touch may not be as fun.


> As an example, AS1312 deployed IPv6 over
> a decade before some of the Tier 1's could even *spell* it (find out why
> 6bone
> existed - it's instructive history).  I'm sure that MPLS didn't make its
> first
> appearance in TIer-1 core nets either.  And the list goes on.. (Hint -
> where
> did the Tier 1's get the IPv6/MPLS/whatever experienced engineers to guide
> their deployment? :)

Also, how many junior and mid-level guys leave a Tier I for a network where
they can touch things and then come back as experts.  Also, the
intermediate job tends to pay for certs and training which is a plus.