This post was written by Gary Coman, who oversees engineering and development for Cisco Networking Academy. It originally appeared on the Huffington Post. 

I love my job and I want you to love yours too. I meet people of all ages, everywhere in the world who are shaping the future of their communities and transforming their lives. As director of engineering with the Cisco Networking Academy, I am part of a global community dedicated to training the next generation of networking technology professionals who will design, build, and dream up the technology networks that will connect everyone, everywhere. They will change the way we work, live, play and learn.

Whether you’re just planning a career or considering a career change, here are 5 reasons you should include computer networking in your course studies.

1. Opportunities abound

People with ICT and networking skills are in short supply worldwide. The US Department of Labor estimates the number of jobs for network systems and data communication analysts will grow by 53 percent from 2008 to 2018. In Brazil, these types of jobs will grow from about 60,000 today to more than 115,000 jobs by 2015. The story is the same in country after country from continent to continent. As organizations and institutions invest in mobile devices, cloud computing, social media and big data, they depend on a workforce with networking technology experience. The current number of people working and studying technology simply won’t match the expected demand. Individuals who choose to add networking to their studies or professional skills can transform their lives. Ntombozuko (Soso) Luningo leveraged her interest in computers into a successful career first as an IT professional and now inspires others as an instructor.

Soso Luningo teaches computer networking skills at the CIDA City Campus in Johannesburg, South Africa.

2. You don’t have to be a math wiz

Networking starts with basic logic and connections. The only prerequisite for the Cisco Networking Academy IT Essentials class is an interest in information communications technology (ICT) and basic math and reading comprehension. If you are in or have completed high school, you have the skills to launch a networking career. High school students in Bulgaria have become networking champions through online study, simulations, hands-on activities, and working in teams. You can study networking technology at a broad range of educational institutions — high schools, community colleges, institutes, community knowledge centers, and universities as part of your degree studies or while you work.

Students at Technology School Electronic Systems (TSES) in Sofia, Bulgaria, benefit from taking the rigorous Cisco Networking Academy curriculum.

3. Every workplace needs a few friendly geeks

Networking skills give you an edge and an opportunity to make a career in almost any sector you can imagine: financial services, education, transportation, manufacturing, oil and gas, mining and minerals, technology, government, hospitality, health care, retail… you name it. If you have an interest in a particular field, technology is probably part of it. For example, health care clinicians study networking technology to better understand how to use it in their practice. At Effat University in Saudi Arabia, women have dramatically expanded their career opportunities by adding networking to their skills set. Veteran Matt Hefler became a virtual systems engineer with several job offers after his networking studies. Whether you see yourself with your own business, as part of a small company or inside a global corporation, networking basics open the door to help advance your career.

4. Get connected to the most connected people

There is a worldwide community of people just like you. More than 4.75 million students in 165 countries have participated in Cisco Networking Academy courses since 1997. That’s a lot of friends to find and connect with on LinkedIn or the Cisco Networking Academy Facebook page, which has over 530,000 student and instructor members who use it to stay in touch, ask questions, and learn about new learning opportunities. Most academies have their own Facebook sites and many have LinkedIn communities.

5. The places you’ll go and the things you’ll do

Networking standards are global. That means your skills and certifications are recognized anywhere in the world your career takes you. Cisco certified professionals have worked their way up through global corporations in places all over the world. They live in every sized community, supporting small businesses, schools, and social services in every town or village where someone connects to the Internet. They build networks for essential communications after disasters like in Haiti after the earthquake. They connect isolated places like refugee camps to the world, giving displaced persons a bridge to a more promising future.

I know that networking can take you wherever you want to go, because I’ve lived it. I started out as a systems analyst with Fidelity Investments. But I had ambitions to build life experience and travel the globe. I used my knowledge in networking and technology to move to Europe and then to Asia for over 10 years, advancing my career from systems to sales to business development. Now, as director of engineering for Cisco Networking Academy, I ensure that people everywhere benefit from the power of ICT. When you choose to add networking skills and Cisco certification to your résumé, you open the door to opportunities.

Gary Coman will be speaking about the connection between networking technology studies and career opportunities at the U.S. News STEM Solutions Conference, June 17-19.

Tags: Career, ICT, job, networking, technology

Today we’re talking tablets versus textbooks in the first of a series of blog posts inspired by cartoons. Does anyone have a good memory of their education textbooks?  Textbooks are cumbersome… anyone disagree?  Most textbooks are a bulky nuisance weighing down backpacks of elementary to high school students nationwide.   What I’m wondering is: why burden shoulders and backs with textbooks when the solution is already present in mobile education?  Cisco BYOD Solution for K12 Education transforms education allowing the freedom to go anywhere on campus with a mobile device and still perform the tasks you would on a wired network.  Here’re my two cents on why schools should consider making the switch away from textbooks. Read More »

Tags: bring your own device, byod, campus, Cisco, device, education, enrich, K-12, K12, LAN, learn, mobile, mobile device, mobility, network, networking, school, school district, server, solution, student, tablet, teach, technology, wi-fi, wifi, wireless, wireless network, wlan

This is my fifth blog in a multi-part series.  In my first blog, I introduced insights from Cisco’s Collaboration Work Practice Study and how people value collaboration in the work environment.  In my second blog, I discussed the importance of building trust-based relationships and networks to make collaboration work for you.  In my third blog, I share how you can turn human interactions into business results.  In my fourth blog, I discussed patterns of collaborative behaviors and how to leverage them to better support collaborators. In today’s blog, I discuss how you can get extraordinary results.

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Collaboration, at its core, is people interacting with people.  When building collaboration solutions, therefore, it’s essential to put people at the center.  As we learned in our study of employees in the Cisco Collaboration Work Practice Study, a blend of process, culture, workplace and technology solutions fosters the natural human interactions, rich dialogue and diverse perspectives at the heart of collaboration.

At Cisco, employees say that the outcomes achieved as a result of collaboration are “simply better.” So now is the time to not only reflect, but also to take action, as today’s technology era brings new dimensions to how we work together. We collaborate across time zones, cultures, personalities and behaviors. We collaborate using a multitude of devices, from smartphones and laptops to tablets and more. When organizations empower employees to engage and interact at a personal, human level, across this diverse landscape, they can achieve extraordinary results—such as Read More »

Tags: Cisco Collaboration Work Practice Study, collaboration, cwps, Organizational Network Analysis, technology

The U.S. National STEM Solutions Conference is just around the corner and the Cisco CSR team will be among the more than 2,000 business, education, and government leaders from around the United States in attendance at the Austin Convention Center from June 17 to 19, in efforts to continue change in STEM (science, technology, engineering, or math) education, policy, and workforce development.

Cisco CSR, along with its partner STEMconnector, will use the conference to advocate for more STEM education to better equip the students of today with the education and resources necessary to become the leaders of tomorrow.

During the three-day conference, the Cisco CSR-funded EdTech: Revolution in Education and 100 CEO Leaders in STEM reports will be showcased. EdTech: Revolution in Education is a first-of-its kind effort to create an inventory of education technology resources. The 100 CEO leaders in STEM report features interviews with 100 CEOs, including Cisco CEO John Chambers, which highlight the committed leadership necessary to win the STEM education battle.

On Tuesday, June 18, Cisco’s Senior Director of Corporate Affairs, Harbrinder Kang, will give brief remarks during the release announcement of the EdTech report and later during the 100 CEO Leaders in STEM dinner. On Wednesday, June 19, Cisco Networking Academy Director, Gary Coman will participate on the panel Bridging the Gap: the Pivotal Role of Community Colleges and Career and Technical Education. With 10,000 Networking Academies in 165 countries, Cisco has long been a pioneer in training students around the world to become ICT professionals.

Read More »

Tags: education, math, networking academy, science, stem, STEM solutions, technology

At WWDC this week, Apple announced that their new Macbook and Macbook Air are 802.11ac enabled. As we predicted in our red-hot Client Adoption blog earlier this year, the list of 802.11ac clients, like the new Macbooks and Samsung Galaxy S4, will continue to grow and expand throughout 2013. These devices come with the promise of Gigabit wireless, at faster speeds and better performance. How will your enterprise networks meet those expectations? The Cisco Aironet 3600 with 802.11ac module is your ticket for enterprise-class 802.11ac wireless.

Cisco Aironet 3600 AP with 802.11ac module

The 802.11ac module will make these new clients fly at new higher speeds--3 to 4 times faster than 802.11n. So if you are connecting your new Apple device to an Enterprise Network supporting Cisco’s 3600 AP with the 802.11ac module, you will be able to get some of the highest bandwidth rates ever seen out of your Wi-Fi network which will open the opportunity for better quality video streams, better online collaboration and the support of more high-bandwidth demanding applications.  Check out the Aironet 3600 here:  http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps13128/index.html

Can’t get enough of 802.11ac? Neither can we. Read More »

Tags: 802.11ac, access point, Aironet, Apple, bandwidth, Cisco, gigabit, higher education, macbook, technology, wi-fi, wifi, wireless, wwdc