So here marks the end of 2010. How did you do professionally? Did you meet your goals, are you making progress or did you scrap them all together?
I look back at my goals from January 2010 to see how I performed. Looks like I did okay, aside from becoming a Windows Server expert. I don’t think I’m quite there yet.
This year completely changed the way I see my career. I have a set of new goals that I’d like to complete but this time I’m taking a different approach. First, I needed to do a reorientation with my goals so I asked myself a set of questions:
What is my ultimate career goal?
To be a subject matter expert in network security.
What is my major goal for the next 5 years?
To become a key player as a network engineer or network security engineer.
What is my major goal for the next year?
To become CCNP R&S certified with the knowledge and skillset to maintain, troubleshoot and implement network solutions.
Has my career path changed radically?
Yes, because I was in a state of limbo with my career. Not knowing where to specialize, with either Windows or Networking. I now realize that networking is my strong suite and I will continue to build on that foundation.
These are my major goals as of the 2011 year. It’s definitely possible that they could change as I further develop my skills and career. But now at least I have a plan. So now I want to dive in deeper and get specifics:
Where do I plan to be a year from now?
I see myself outgrowing my current position and making a transition to a full role of network engineer.
Currently I still do a lot of tech support. I feel that it is holding me back from my true potential. Where I want to be one year from now will significantly increase my experience.
What do I need to accomplish in the next year to stay on track with my plan?
I need to keep learning networking technologies and concepts needed to maintain a network infrastructure. If I need to, I will acquire external training. I need to become THE go-to person for networking solutions and need to accomplish expert troubleshooting knowledge/experience. I need to show my manager & director that I am indeed an expert in what I do.
I work a lot with vendors that fill in the weak areas. There is nothing wrong with that but wouldn’t it be nice to be able to do that kind of work and make more room in the budget for bigger projects OR compensation increases 
What do I need to learn in the next year to stay on track with my plan?
I need to learn networking concepts/technologies (CCNP), how to properly plan out changes and manage projects, security concepts/technologies (CCNP Security) and get started on a vendor-neutral certification to further develop my security knowledge (CISSP).
Currently, certifications drive my knowledge. I don’t do any formal class training because I’m more of a self-study type of guy and I use my own labs. I’m not a paper collector but the books really provide a solid foundation of knowledge required to do the job.
What are the big industry changes that I see happening in the next year that will affect me (e.g., new technologies, trends, regulations, certifications, etc.)?
The way people view certifications. I need to acquire the knowledge required to do the job instead of gathering paper certs. Organizations will realize whether the cloud will help boost profits so I need to be up to speed with that technology. Security will still continue to play a huge role after 2010′s security breaches.
I’m so behind on current trends!
What big changes should I plan on making in the next year (e.g., job change, significant education milestones, etc.)?
Develop the technical skill set. Know best practices and keep learning! Think about going back to school for a Masters Degree in business at a reputable school.
I do not see any big changes for 2011 happening since my main focus is on acquiring more experience in my field, even if that means getting a new job. A masters degree will come into play if I get put in a management role.
What do I need to start learning to get good hold of security concepts?
Start looking into application security: SSL/TLS, TCP/IP stack, Disciplined approach to development, testing, quality assurance, PKI & authentication systems, Linux, Programming & Scripting w/ Python, C, Java or Perl.
I put a lot of programming languages out there just so I could get my feet wet with security. I don’t plan on learning all of them for 2011 but at least get started with one.
After reading through this plan I can really think about what I need to do next year to complete my goals. It’s a plan for success and professional development which will hopefully lead to more opportunity. What do you think? What are your goals for 2011?
Image by Angietorres
Posted by (@rowelldionicio) on December 30th, 2010
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