Networking Academy Instructor was Driving Force Behind Career at Cisco

26-year-old Stephen Elliott from Bedfordshire, UK, received outstanding guidance from his Networking Academy course that – coupled with his hard work – resulted in a highly rewarding job with Cisco.

Stephen Elliott’s two big passions in life are technology and cars – which is perhaps why he chose to describe Cisco as “the Rolls-Royce of IT vendors”. It was this enthusiasm for the company that led him to enroll in a networking academy run by Bedford College in 2005, while already working hard on a degree in Computer Communications at Northampton University. “I firmly believed (and still do) that this would open doors for me once I also achieved my degree,” he explains., obtaining both his university degree and Cisco certification was to prove hard work, but Stephen found the structure of his Cisco CCNA course allowed him to successfully fit in all the aspects of his demanding schedule. “The course was modular – in bite-sized chunks, if you like, which made it fairly easy to handle,” he says.

Another plus for the course, according to Stephen, was his instructor. “Steve Deards is without any doubt the best teacher I have ever come across,” he insists, adding: “lessons were fun, exciting, entertaining and always extremely productive. I gained so much from his influence and the level and materials we covered far exceeded the standard required for the course.”

In addition, Stephen found that his Cisco course had a clear industry focus that was to be of immense practical and career value. “I had easy access to current technology and we used real case studies to simulate complete projects from beginning to end,” he elaborates.

His hard work paid off, with a First Class university degree and Cisco CCNA from the Networking Academy program which Stephen later topped up with CCDA, CCNP and CCDP certifications. Once qualified, Stephen focused his attention on finding employment. He had been busy researching potential employers and concluded that: “As I wanted a career in this industry, I felt Cisco would be the perfect company to work for. I found out about the graduate scheme, applied, went through the various stages of the interview process and, ultimately, I was offered a position.” Here again, he found the support of his Networking Academy – and Steve Deards – invaluable. “He was the biggest driving force. His advice and guidance was, in my opinion, instrumental in me being successful on the Cisco assessment day,” he says. This short description of how Stephen became a Network Consulting Engineer omits one key factor – that, as one of the 20 or so successful candidates, he beat the 2000 who were not chosen. And his advice to those seeking a career in networking? “Search for jobs while you are still learning and beat down every door to get your CV on the table. Sell yourself!”

Future plans

Having now worked as a Network Consulting Engineer for four years, Stephen plans to develop his career within Cisco, aiming to take on more management responsibilities in addition to his technical role, while working towards more certifications.

For More Information

To learn more about Cisco Networking Academy, please visit www.cisco.com/go/netacad

To learn more about Bedford College's Cisco CCNA training, please visit Bedford College's Cisco Networking Academy page.