I bring knowledge and mentorship to new engineers in my role. I believe we should all be a resource for people.

Senior network engineer

AJ Murray

"I bring knowledge and mentorship to new engineers in my role. I believe we should all be a resource for people."

How it all began


A love for working in technology

A love for working in technology

I was taking a C++ course in college, when I realized how much fun technology was. This led me to taking networking classes, and eventually pursuing a degree in networking information security. At this conference and career fair, I spoke with a systems engineer who explained their job role and responsibilities and I decided this was the job for me! It was everything I was looking for.

A love for working in technology

After graduating from college, I took a job as an IT manager for a manufacturing company. At the time, I was still very hands-on with the technical work. My primary role was as an architect, helping to design and implement solutions.

Over time, both my team and my responsibilities grew to where I was doing less of the technical stuff, focusing more on business and organizational issues. It was during a Cisco Live conference that I realized I wanted to get back to working in technology.

So, in 2018, I decided to pursue my CCNA Cisco Certification. I’d always wanted to do this, but never seemed to have enough time. Getting a CCNA allowed me to move from my role as an IT manager to a network deployment engineer, an individual contributor, without a salary cut. This was important, as I had to make sure I could still support my family. Midway through my CCNA CyberOps studies, I learned of an opportunity at another company, working as its SOC operator. Busy as I was, I made time for the interview. The employer was impressed with how wellinformed I was. I knew the subject matter inside and out because it was precisely the material I had just studied during the Cisco course.

About AJ

Certifications

CCNA
CCNP Enterprise

Location

Vermont, USA

Hobbies

Family time fan
Podcasting superstar
Hiking obsessed

What does having a Cisco Certification mean to you?

"Cisco Certifications really helped to advance my career."

After getting my CCNA, I turned my attention to taking the CCNP Enterprise. About a month after passing the exam and obtaining the professional-level certification, I was promoted to senior deployment engineer, leading a team of engineers. I was told the CCNP certification wasn’t a requirement for getting the new position, but it helped convince management that I could lead others.

Working for a Cisco partner showed me that they really see the value in Cisco certifications. Recently, I completed my DevNet Associate, and I’m currently working on my CCNP Data Center. Cisco certifications have made a huge difference in my career and in my life.


AJ Murray

What would you tell your younger self?

Get certified instead of focusing as much on college degrees. I am where I am today largely because of my Cisco Certifications, not because of my master’s degree in IT.

What would you tell a friend?

I always try to nudge people to get the CCNA because of the extra value that it brings. For example, because it provides general networking knowledge, it’s invaluable for people entering the networking world, as it helps them understand a number of situations they might encounter.

Read more certification success stories

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Olivia Wolf

"The knowledge that I’ve got from studying for those certifications gave me the confidence that I’ll always be able to get a job if I need to."

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Has earning a Cisco certification positively changed your life or career, or both? Do you think your Cisco certification story would help encourage other people to earn their Cisco certification? If so, we want to talk to you!