According to the CEO of Cisco Systems, soon there will be one million new connections every hour. So unless something drastic happens, we will live in a world where almost everything will be connected to a network. Gadgets ranging from an Apple Watch to a toothbrush...
The ULTIMATE GUIDE to reach out to technical recruiters and make them want to help you
Reaching out to technical recruiters, besides a few things here and there, should be approached the same way as reaching out to any other person. By default, this requires an understanding of people’s natural responses to certain stimuli. It might not seem as...
The Secret Formula To Writing Mouthwatering Resumes And Cover Letters Like A Pro
Search online and you’ll find a ton of places saying that writing a good cover letter and resume is essential to getting a job, which for the most part, is true. However, you’ll find people telling you that you should include “this and that” yet, the vast majority...
Changing careers: from economics to information technology
He had been standing in line for quite some time waiting impatiently—like everybody else appeared to be on his side of the stage. It was hot and somewhat humid, the sun was glaring on his face, and the dark outfit he was wearing from head to toe wasn’t helping in any...
From a warehouse to Senior Network Engineer making well over 6 figures
One afternoon on his way to work, he noticed an unusual number of people gathered together around a small-brownish building in the middle of town. For some reason, he left his house five hours earlier than usual and had time to spare before his 11:00 p.m. shift. ...
Transitioning veteran? Consider these great-paying career fields if you want to be successful
The biggest difference between the military and the civilian world Purpose. Whether you engaged in direct combat or served as a wounded soldier counselor, odds are that you felt like you were part of something bigger than yourself. In the military we were not only...
How I switched careers and became a network engineer in less than 2 years
The biggest mistake of my life… I had just earned a bachelor's degree in business. Over the past four years I had spent many late nights studying and working a part-time job to help pay my way through college. Finally the time had come and I was about to receive my...
The One Thing That Transitioning Vets Should Know But No One Tells Them
When I made my decision to transition out of the military I had one goal in mind: Getting into a career that would allow me to pay the bills and provide a good life for my family, and that had great opportunities for future growth. I had been in the military ever...
Why Joe Montana Is Backing These 2 Vets With His Own Money
San Francisco. Middle of the winter. January 10, 1982. The 49ers had made it all the way to the NFC title game. But, they were facing the Dallas Cowboys, perhaps the strongest team in the entire league, as 3-point underdogs at Candlestick Park. Entering the 4th...
From 50k in college debt to debt-free network engineer making almost 6 figures
Imagine if you were about to start a family on $30,000 a year, you were in a job that you knew wasn’t going to lead you to a bright and stable future, and were $50,000 in the hole. Even if you were living in a cheap area, and only ate noodles, being able to provide...
Zero to Engineer vs. Devry’s Network And Communications Management Degree: What’s Best For You?
Do you have enough money to throw Benjamins out the window driving through Beverly Hills in a yellow Lambo? No? Good—neither do I. So if you’re considering leveling up your IT skills and want to enroll in a training program, you should care about this... This is a...
Technical Degrees: Are These Really The Best Universities?
Do you want to become a network or systems engineer, and are considering a technical degree? There are many options for you to choose from so let me ask you something: how do you know if you’re making the right decision? Everything from reputation to even the...
How To Become a Network Engineer In Less Than a Year In 5 Simple Steps
If you want to become a network engineer and eventually become a systems engineer or solutions engineer, you can actually get amazing results much faster than what most people think is even possible. There are 5 steps you need to take and you can do it without a college degree.
Want To Get The Coolest Job At Cisco? It’s All About Hands-On Experience
You wanna know what the coolest job at Cisco is? Take a guess… It’s not the VP of sales, or the head of systems engineering, nor it is the CTO. Heck, it’s not even the CEO! Side note: Chuck Robbins is definitely really cool. We met him the other day: The coolest job...
How To Use Cisco’s DCloud To Advance In Your Career
Here's one fundamental truth you probably already know: if you want to succeed in IT, you need to constantly gain new skills. In this field, staying on top of trends and being among the first ones to learn how to use new technology can pay great dividends. But this...
Avoid These Mistakes If You Want Technical Recruiters To Offer You Interviews On LinkedIn
If you're looking to break into a new job and want technical recruiters to talk to you, you better have a LinkedIn account. But, just creating a username and password, and adding a picture of your pretty face won't cut it. LinkedIn has become a very powerful tool for...
How The Network Intuitive Will Change The Future Of IT Professionals
If you’re reading this you’re probably a liar. But no worries, we’re not judging! According to research from the University of Massachusetts most of us are liars. They found that 60% of people lie 2-3 times every 10 minutes of conversation. Sometimes we don’t even...
Putting Yourself In An IT Hiring Manager’s Shoes: Who Would You Hire?
Have you asked yourself what it actually takes to get a job offer? After spending months going from interview to interview without any success, I sure did. It wasn’t easy. I had a college degree, some hands-on experience, and a certification. Yet, every time I spoke...
The IT Jobs Skills Gap Isn’t Going Anywhere And Certs Are To Blame
According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were almost 6 million open jobs in America --pretty close to the all-time high. On the surface, this might seem like a good thing. It's easy to think that since employers are hiring then the economy is growing....
The Best And Easiest Ways To Get IT Hands-On Experience
Have you ever heard the saying "those who can, do; those who can't, teach"? This is one of the most frustrating things about education. You sit there for hours and hours listening to people who do little else but talk, without knowing if they truly know what they are...
How To Avoid Getting Stuck At The Helpdesk Or In Any Entry Level Role
Being stuck in the helpdesk can really suck! All you do is reset passwords, answer basic (stupid?) questions, and turn things on and off. Sure, it’s great if you’re just starting out and need to get some experience but, expecting to have a lucrative and fulfilling...
Jump On This Trend And You’ll Have A Successful IT Career
Did you know Switzerland used to dominate the world of watchmaking? Back in 1968, they owned around 65% of the world market share and enjoyed 80% of the profits. Yet, about 12 years later their market share had fallen below 10% because they ignored a tech trend. Do...
How To Get Expert Engineers To Mentor You For FREE
Once upon a time, back in the mid 1800s, there was a little boy who immigrated to Brooklyn, New York with his parents. His family was so poor that every day after school, he used to wash the windows of a bakery shop and collect pieces of coal that had fallen off the...
FSNA Bootcamp #2
Congratulations to all of our new FSNA awarded students: Bootcamp 2 Andrei Colibaba FSNA 0002, awarded April 28, 2017 Christopher Mendez FSNA 0003, awarded April 28, 2017 Harshan Jayaraman FSNA 0004, awarded April 28, 2017 David Marquez FSNA 0005, awarded April 28,...
The Top 5 IT Careers That Don’t Require You To Waste Your Time and Money In College
Let me ask you a couple of questions: how many of the people you know will be paying off their college loans for a long time? And how many of them earned degrees but still don’t seem to have a clear career path and/or have very limited options? My friend Nicole...
The Truth About IT Certifications And Landing Your Dream IT Job
If you are into IT you’ve probably heard of dozens of different certifications that are usually required to break into a job, haven’t you? Well, let me tell you something: entry-level certifications are not the kind of requirement that you would think they are; they...
Disrupting [Tech] Education: Two Air Force Veterans Start Edtech Startup
Terry Kim and Jacob Hess, both former Air Force IT instructors, decided to quit their high-paying corporate jobs to start an IT training edtech company called NexGenT (short for Next Generation Training). The reason? Well, they were (and still are) sick and tired of...
FSNA Bootcamp #1
Congratulations to all of our new FSNA awarded students: Bootcamp 1 Yangyang Herrera FSNA 0001, awarded March 22, 2017
What IT Companies Care About The Most And The Only IT Award That Will Skills Train You Like a Navy SEAL
Would you assess a soldier’s ability to perform in combat with a written exam? No? That’s what I thought. You would probably try to simulate a real-life situation to isolate your best people, otherwise, you’d be giving the enemy a huge advantage, wouldn’t you? Sadly,...
Top IT Cloud Certifications for 2017
If we had to choose one cloud certification in 2017 for beginners to seasoned pros, these would be our picks. What’s hotter than putting cloud skills on your resume? How about adding a certification or two to validate that you really have cloud chops. The cloud...
How Project-based Learning Creates Rockstar Engineers
At NexGenT, we take pride in creating context around the things we teach. We believe it's important for learners to visualize the big picture of a particular subject as much as possible before diving into the smaller pieces. We call this objective deconstruction and...
NexGenT Travels to Portugal for WebSummit!
We've made it to Lisbon, Portugal for WebSummit! The timing is perfect as we just finished up fundraising in SF after living there for 2 months post AngelPad for the summer and recently relocated our company to Silicon Valley. We went from a founding team of 2 to...