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Avery Currie's Career on the Fast Track

I started work as a Network Technician for a company providing commercial, wireless WAN service about six months before completing my degree at Greenville Tech. We provide VOIP, Internet connectivity and basic WAN connectivity for commercial accounts using wireless technologies. This allows us to provide customers with anywhere from 10M-100M throughput on the WAN without the use of cabling outside the local building. I went back to school to prepare for a career change after working in, or in support of, the textile industry most of my career. My responsibilities involved maintaining the wireless WAN networks for our customers in the Upstate, SC and upper Georgia region. I was responsible for configuring/replacing wireless Ethernet radios, switches, antenna alignment, cabling, maintaining UPS’ and any other device that was included in the network.

After eight months working as a Technician I was promoted to Network Maintenance Manager with responsibility for all networks in GA, NC, SC and VA. My new responsibilities involved maintaining all wireless WANs in those states. I hire, train and develop entry-level technicians to maintain the WANs in these states. I am also responsible for improving the quality of the network when possible. For example, I was able to eliminate over 60% of the service calls in one network located in NC by changing one aspect of the topology of the WAN.

Changing careers has been one of the best things I have ever done. Instead of being in an industry that was dying a slow death, my current industry is vibrant and growing. To date, after less than 2 years in the industry, I have achieved one promotion, expect to have a second raise within the next month (the first more than doubled my starting salary), and also expect to have responsibility for even more networks in the near future.

While at GTC I tried to take as many courses as possible. Even though I was following the Cisco Network track, I took classes in Linux and software in order to attain as much knowledge as possible. Even though I am a “network guy”, having a basic understanding of Linux commands allows me to understand how our Linux servers affect the network and, when necessary, to make changes to them. The training I received was immediately applicable “on the job”. While every company has different methods of doing things, GTC will provide you with a basic understanding of the process. Subnetting is a perfect example; our WANs use private IP addresses all using 10 dot addresses. We have networks in 20 states. Without the use of subnets we could not monitor the devices in those networks. If you do not understand what I mean by subnetting, take the class!

I would not be working at this company if not for GTC. The person who hired me came to GTC and asked the instructors for recommendations. That is how I started. To date, I have hired 4 new techs and each was hired from the local technical school in their geographical area. I went to each school and asked the instructors for their recommendations. The techs that I hired were recommended by their instructors. I would also note that after visiting numerous schools, GTC has been the best by far.

While it might be possible to attain an IT or Telecommunications job without having a degree or certificate, it is much more difficult to do so. I would not hire anyone without a degree or certificate to show they had attained at least a basic skill set. With the training from GTC I know that any tech I hire will have at least a basic understanding of how systems operate and how to perform basic job functions. I have encountered job applicants who do not know what a static IP is, much less how to set one. You can not troubleshoot a network if you can not even set a static IP address. Even after attaining the first job, it is very important to continue your career and learn as much as possible. The people who get ahead are able (and willing) to perform more than one job function. GTC will provide you with a basic skill set that allows you to get that first job. If you have an interest in the IT or Telecommunications field, enroll at GTC.
 
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Greenville Technical College   P.O. Box 5616   Greenville, SC   29606-5616   (864) 250-8111

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