Case Study: Meet John Rema,
a Certified CompTIA Network Engineer

Building a progressive yet sustainable career can sometimes become quite a challenge. There are lots of obstacles along the way. People lose interest in their field of study midway or in other instances, stagnancy in a professional role tires them. The only way or another. Information technology is one of the fields which shows a lot of promise these days. However, the arena is quite dynamic. From simple web development to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, a lot has changed in the past decade. A bachelor’s or even master’s degree can lose its efficiency if newer avenues are not explored. Thankfully cybersecurity bootcamps allow individuals this opportunity.

From an entry-level position to a budding career John was one of the people who were severely hit by the collapse of the housing market in 2008. After completing a degree in computer sciences, his interests began to shift towards real estate. His soft skills and persuasion techniques made him successful. When the bubble of profits began to grow in the sector, he was excited about the prospects but then it all came crashing down. For several years he was broke and jobless. His bachelor’s degree alone was not enough to land him a sensible position in the market. “I had a little left to go by. I would use friends’ computers to look for job openings. There weren’t many and the ones which were hiring would only offer peanuts for my qualifications” John says.

In 2014, he gave the CompTIA A+ Certificate exam. Within a month he was hired as an IT Support Technician. He enjoyed the job and it was much more stable than his positive as a real estate broker. Within a few years though, it became a road with no end. He was working in the same position with occasional bonuses but other than that, nothing seemed to be moving. He tried several things like trying certificate courses and practicing new skills but none of them were beneficial. One thing he did discover during this time, was his interest in networking. CompTIA A+ is a general certification that encompasses fundamentals about computers and diagnosing common issues. CompTIA Net+ is a vendor-neutral exam that familiarizes people with networking protocols and other components of the field. He started looking for part-time study options and came across the Wagner College training program that offers 16 hours of self-paced training which suited his current time calendar.

Within the same week, John took the training and able to pass the CompTIA Net+ exam. At that time the cybercrime was taking companies by surprise, causing monumental damages. Within a few months, John was able to switch jobs to assume the role of the Network Specialist. In the next couple of months, he became the IT Manager with a team of ten people under him. His department is growing and so are his take-home salaries. “I had the ability to make such a drastic change in my life, yet I was unaware of how to do it. I am glad I discovered the great networking bootcamp which gave me the ability to direct my career growth appropriately” John Rema