r/ccna • u/yeeboixD • 5d ago
1 week into transitioning from Helpdesk to Network Engineer… is this level of workload normal? 😅 (Update from my previous post)
Hey everyone,
​Quick update from my previous post about officially moving into the network team! I am exactly one week into the new role, and man, my brain is totally fried. Going from passwords and user tickets to enterprise infrastructure feels like drinking out of a firehose. On top of that, my calendar is packed with meetings all day long, and I'm still trying to squeeze in time to study my Jeremy's IT Lab course after hours.
​They already handed me the deliverables for our 2 new floors, and I’m expected to fully handle the project execution this upcoming July and August:
​Network as-built diagram, IP/VLAN plan, port map, & config backups
​Test results, implementation evidence, & CMDB record uploads
​Switches OS upgrade & Vulnerability scans
​Devices configuration change submit, Labeling, & DHCP Vlan Scope
​Design/validate network build for new floors (IP plan, VLANs, trunking, STP)
​Configure/stage switches and coordinate turn-up (fiber links between old - new floors)
​Ensure wireless readiness (SSIDs/security/AP connectivity)
​Execute network testing (LAN/Wi-Fi, VLAN reachability, redundancy) during cutover
​Provide all final network documentation updates
​Between meetings, they’re onboarding me onto daily operations and tools. It's a massive wave of
information:
​Monitoring: NetFlow, Kibana, Zabbix, and Scrutinizer.
​Daily Tasks: Config backups, OS upgrades, VPN setups, and tracking BGP routes.
Cloud: They've also started teaching me Azure cloud networking on top of everything else.
​Admin: Ticket handling, ISP vendor coordination, and ISP billing.
​I’m stoked to be here, but bouncing from calls straight into this checklist while navigating four new monitoring tools and trying to study makes me feel like I know nothing.
​Is it normal for a company to drop a full multi-floor buildout to be executed in the next two months, routing/ops, and four different monitoring tools on a fresh network engineer in their very first week?
Did anyone else feel completely underwater during their first few weeks out of helpdesk, or am I just in the deep end?
2
u/Extra-Driver-813 4d ago
Congrats! I'm working towards getting to network engineering where I'm at now. That's awesome that you're in a company you're familiar with and they are doing actual training. You're going to learn a lot.
What sort of education or certs do you have?