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Sherrie Burke
Network Administrator
Omni Services
Career Quick Look
Age: 47
Location: Culpepper, VA
Education: A.S. in Information Technology in progress; CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate); TCP/IP Network Analyst Certification Program; Career Studies Certificate in Microcomputer Applications for Business; Career Studies Certificate in Networking; Certificate in Troubleshooting with Sniffer Pro Network Analyzer
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Salary: $50 - $80,000
Years in field: 3
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Getting Started:
Sherrie had spent several years working as a bookkeeper, and making what she calls "a minimal wage." A little more than eight years ago, she went through a divorce, and suddenly found that her wages were no where near enough to support Sherrie and her 12-year-old son, while holding onto their house. She decided she needed a total career change. "I just went to Germanna Community College," she says "and asked 'what can I get into?'" The school counselors recommended she try computers, so Sherrie enrolled in night classes to find out more.
While she was studying nights, Sherrie was able to get her feet wet at an entry-level computer job nearby. "I landed a position with a local company that had maybe 15 computers," she says. "And I got to work at the help desk, which was a great place to learn." After a few years of study and working, she says her "break" arrived with the job at Omni Services. As she explains it, "they saw I had a little experience and said, 'we can give her some more.'"
Education:
As a working single mom, Sherrie says she only had time to take two classes each semester. "It takes so long when you're going at night." Her coursework at Germanna Community College allowed her to explore various options within computing, until she decided networking was what she liked best. ("It's a constant learning process," she says, but in a field of ever-evolving technology, "networking seemed to change the least.")
"Germanna was one of the first schools in the country to offer the Cisco Networking Academy Program" she says, so with five or six semesters under her belt Sherrie entered the program and was able to earn her CCNA certificate there. "That has helped a lot in my workplace," she says. Still working full-time and attending classes at night, she is currently two semesters away from her Associate's Degree in Information Technology.
Greatest Professional Achievement:
Sherrie says earning her certificate from Cisco - which she received in March 2000 - has been her greatest achievement. The test itself was extremely challenging, as she recalls. "There was so much you had to memorize," she says. "When you're working on routers, you'll always have a handbook where you can look something up," she says, but the exam requires you to have it all in your head.
Having the certificate has given her satisfaction and added confidence in the workplace. "I felt like as a woman in this profession I needed that paper to show that I knew what I was doing," Sherrie says. "The next accomplishment, of course, will be to finish my degree."
Barriers:
"The couple of math classes that I was required to take were hard," Sherrie says. "Math is not easy for me, but I got through it somehow with a little help from my friends." She even managed to maintain a 4.0 grade point average, and was invited to join the Phi Beta Kappa honor society last year. Sherrie says returning to school as a mature student with the incentive of supporting her family was a big motivator, even when the going got tough. "You want to try and do your best and get the most you can out of it," she says. "My company reimburses me for some of it, but you still have to fork out that money up front."
Juggling work and school can be a major challenge at times, she admits. "You keep thinking, 'will I ever get finished?'" Sherrie says. "Sometimes you're working 60 or 70 hours a week. Sometimes you're traveling and they might call you at 4 a.m. and say something is down. But it's fun, and it's starting to pay off, financially, too."
Working with Men:
"It is a very male-dominated profession, so sometimes it seems like you have to work twice as hard," Sherrie says, but her experience working with men has been mostly positive. "I like it," she says, "because you know exactly where you stand with them - they say exactly what they feel. They expect a lot of you, but once you prove yourself and you have their respect, you've got it, and they're right behind you all the way."
Sherrie still gets reminders that she's a minority as a woman in the networking field. On a recent site visit she was greeted with surprised looks, and had someone ask: "they sent a girl to do this?" She admits "that's not uncommon - especially when you're 5'4". But in fact I've found my small size makes it easier to get around the equipment, so it's an advantage most times."
Advice for Women:
"Make up your mind what you want to do and set your goals - but set realistic goals," Sherrie advises. You may have a long-term goal of earning your CCNA certificate, or a college degree, she says, "but make sure you have some short-term goals, too. Otherwise it just seems too overwhelming." Making a total career change isn't easy, she says, "especially when you've got a whole household to take care of. You think 'how can I take on more?' But then you look at the checkbook, and you realize that the alternative is to just struggle forever."
Whatever your own limitations, she says, "work within them - but just don't give up. One class a semester is better than none. It's a little bit easier to swallow if you take small bites than if you try to eat the whole cake at once. Just keep plugging away."
Typical Workday/Environment:
As the holding company for a leading rental uniform company with offices from Texas to the East Coast, Omni Services operates 96 sites with three network administrators. "The first thing we do each morning," Sherrie says, "is make sure all our circuits are up at our 96 locations - if not, there's a problem we need to work on. I also have to support the phone switches at one of our buildings, so sometimes I may end up punching down wire, just to make the connections."
At the moment, Sherrie and her team are working on a company-wide conversion to wireless technology. "We're in the process of converting smaller sites from using coaxial cable to wireless technology," she says, "which will allow them to relocate more easily without losing all that hardwiring in the building." Along with special projects come the regular maintenance and troubleshooting of the company's network.
"Any time a site goes down or there's a problem, we drop everything and go to work on that," she says. Her position frequently involves travel to the company's various sites - including Kentucky, Buffalo, and Long Island, New York in the past month alone. "Because I've been willing and able to travel, it's been easier for me," Sherrie says. "I try to be flexible, and luckily for me my fiancee is pretty understanding."
Career Ladder:
"If you can get any type of computer experience," Sherrie says, it's a good start to exploring your interests. To be an administrator, she explains, "usually you'd start working in a local environment, where you would be hooking up PCs and getting familiar with how they talk to each other." Sherrie says her help desk experience taught her a lot. "You get to see a lot of different things on the help desk," she says. "I had to learn to troubleshoot a variety of problems." Because her supervisor was frequently busy, Sherrie stepped in and learned how to do things herself.
With some initial experience you might find an entry-level networking position, where she says "you help out with routine tasks." From there you could move up to network administrator, earning more and more responsibility as you progress. Sherrie recommends getting certificates in whatever areas you plan to pursue. "No matter what you do," she says, "your field needs constant updating."
Professional Associations:
NA
Hobbies:
When she's not working or traveling for work, Sherrie enjoys fixing up her house in Virginia, or playing with her two sheltie dogs. "They're a lot of fun," she says.
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