# Starting as a NOC technician soon, first job, any tips?



## jadonss

I'm in highschool, and I got a job as a NOC technician at a pretty nice datacenter in my city (Dallas)

Working on weekends.

I'll be starting soon, so I'm looking for any tips or advice.

This is my first job, and it's a field I'm really interested in. 

I plan to move onto System Administration, and get a CCNA and all that in the future =)


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## NOC-dawg

Hi,

I've been working in a NOC now for almost a year and before that 5 years in a Desktop Support / Admin role. - Network Ops is definitely different than sys admin, so figure out what you want to do first and gain experience before working on the cert. I find it much easier to get certified in something you know, than to learn something new and take a test without experience.


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## jadonss

NOC-dawg said:


> Hi,
> 
> I've been working in a NOC now for almost a year and before that 5 years in a Desktop Support / Admin role. - Network Ops is definitely different than sys admin, so figure out what you want to do first and gain experience before working on the cert. I find it much easier to get certified in something you know, than to learn something new and take a test without experience.


I'd love to know more about what you do as a NOC tech!

I'd like to know some inside stuff that I can't just find from googling about it.

Like does it get boring after a while, considering I actually do enjoy doing it and have an interest. How is advancement, is the pay well, specific things you do on a daily basis, what are the harder points, etc.

If you have the time, I'd love to hear about it, and I'd really appreciate it!


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## NOC-dawg

proagony said:


> I'd love to know more about what you do as a NOC tech!
> 
> I'd like to know some inside stuff that I can't just find from googling about it.
> 
> Like does it get boring after a while, considering I actually do enjoy doing it and have an interest. How is advancement, is the pay well, specific things you do on a daily basis, what are the harder points, etc.
> 
> If you have the time, I'd love to hear about it, and I'd really appreciate it!


 
No problem dude -

I work for a clec out of upstate ny - i work a queue everyday (im on bshift) customer puts in a ticket and it's routed to the noc and we look at it. Troubles range from DS1/DS3 down, Voice Up/Data Down, ip routing issues, cannot be called, cant call out LD etc. I focus primarily on data and facilities (troubleshooting DS1/DS3) and slowly moving into our SIP services. 

it's like anything else really, noc is more of a network "helpdesk" perse. we're on the phone most of the day following up with customers, working with vendors and IT admins as well as other carriers like AT&T/Verizon/Global - depending on what needs to be done. 

Dont get me wrong though we're actually expected to be knowledgeable about our network and the services we provide and how to properly troubleshoot and resolve issues. Most of the time it's a customer equipment issue or some config on their end or even worse their vendor/IT guy's lack of understanding of REAL world configurations.

I'd say the hardest part of the job is really dealing with the frustrated customers or explaining to them it's not an ISP issue. 

My company advancement is good - you can tier up by taking internal tests and get a 10% raise to boot with each tier. Starting salary in my NOC is ranging from $38-$44K DOE. + shift differential + OT


it's not a bad gig esp with where it opens doors for you if you plan on working in ISP telecom - it's the only way to start really.


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## jadonss

Thank you very much for this =)


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## jadonss

Just a follow up...almost exactly a year later 

I'm a NOC Tech! It's been a couple months or so, the job is incredibly fun for me, even the tedious things like checking if all the cabinets are locked in the datacenter. I answer ticktes, calls, swap hard drives, move network cabels, rent out KVM's, configure IP's, bunch-o-linux SSHing, reboot servers. I love it!

Again, thank you NOC-dawg for your time


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## BosonMichael

That'll be good experience for you. Congrats!


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