Networking or Software Programming: Which Career Path Should I Choose?

[rithish]

hello this is rithish from india.Actually I was planning for networking job.So i decided to do ccna and ccnp.My father and mother advised not to take networking.they preferred me to take software and they don't want me to enter in network.beacause network has low salary and rare scope and they we can't develop ourselves.now iam in big dielemma to choose networking or software programming.please give me the best advice.why every one is having a bad opinion about networking?.please anyone help me

 

[MathWarrior]

Networking is pretty routine and you'll just end up doing a lot of the same thing over and over. You will definitely get a better salary with a degree in software engineering/computer science.

That being said if you really like networking just do it. But their are some areas in software engineering/computer science such as "network programming" that you might find even more fun then networking.

 

[rithish]

but some of them said in usa networking has good scope and salary than software is it true or not?

 

[MathWarrior]

The typical salary for an entry level network engineering, is $57,552 USD.

 

[rithish]

how much does a entry level software engineer gain salary in usa

 

[JakeBrodskyPE]

There are many practicalities that getting a CCNA and CCNP can not teach you. If that is all you get from this, you will have a long, difficult road ahead.

Network engineering is interesting stuff, but only in conjunction with something else as well. The same goes for software programming.

Your parents are right to be concerned about becoming a Cisco Certified Network Professional because more often than not, what you have learned is how to manipulate a particular bunch of products without understanding the foundations of what your education is based upon.

If you really like networks, consider getting a degree in Electrical and perhaps Computer Engineering as well.

As for programming, take the FizzBuzz test. If you think it is trivial, you may be cut out for this sort of thing. If you don't get it or you find you are spending too much time on it, give up now. The real programming world is actually harder than that.

Too many programming schools graduate people who have never seen assembly language, don't know what a compiler or linker does, and who have never bothered to write boundary checks in their code.

 

[AsianSensationK]

I have had a job in networking, gotten the CCNA myself (along with a masters in comp sci) and I agree with all of what's been said so far. I read a few books for about a month one summer while I was doing independent study in school,took the exams and passed. What's sad is that we have a bunch of fake trade schools in the US that coach people on these exams and take far more money than they should for that coaching. That's kind of the reason I obtained it, when I think about it...

Anyway, I would target computer science for formal education and aim to become a software engineer. It's probably more interesting and you're likely to have slightly more varied projects. And maybe if you're still interested, you can take the CCNA as well. But it's probably not even as useful for finding a job in networking as just having a handle on how to do some basic admin tasks in the windows operating system and maybe knowing what active directory is and what it does. You don't really get to look at "network engineering" stuff as junior network staff so much as focus in on that windows stuff.