Chapter 20
Ten Alternatives to a Regular Job
May be you've made your fortune and want to give back to society. Or perhaps you are a ne'er-do-well and live off the generosity of others. In either case or anything in between, let's say you want to use your networking skills for something other than a regular job. Hey, this is America. You are free to do what you want. This chapter lists a number of options, ten as a matter of fact, for working in networking while avoiding that troublesome regular paycheck.
Homing In on Your Home
A good place to start is where you hang your hat. Many homes have multiple PCs along with game consoles and smart televisions. And don't forget the smartphones that can connect to the Internet through Wi-Fi.
Many modern operating systems automatically whip up a network when they see each other sharing the same Wi-Fi. This is a start, but it barely constitutes a useful network. The locally connected PCs can't share files and back up data. This is the computer equivalent of having a party where no one talks to each other and everyone is texting on their phone.
Companies have attempted to market home servers. For example, Microsoft produced Windows Home Server, but they later withdrew support for it. In lieu of a central server, any PC on the LAN can act in this role. The two main considerations when optimizing a network in the home are establishing file-sharing relationships with other devices, including PCs, game consoles, and smartphones, and ensuring adequate capacity on the LAN.
Regular old Ethernet is frequently the default speed of many home networks. It may be as simple as updating a router to get Fast Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet in your home network. Simple changes such as this suddenly make sharing photo and video libraries on the home LAN convenient.
Becoming a Good Neighbor
Bringing a batch of cookies to the new neighbors is a great way to build community. It is also old school. Offering to help the new neighbors with their home network is a more modern way of making friends.
Admittedly, this type of neighborly gesture is a little unconventional. Also, the new people might be a bit concerned about your intentions. It would make most sense to stick with helping them with the hardware but sit with them and let them work up the software settings to connect. Be sure to steer clear of their passwords!
Consulting in Your Community
You have your house in order and, having helped your neighbors with their home networks, they now think you're a hero. The next step is to reread the section in Chapter 17 that talks about how important it is for you as a person to be involved in your community. The intent here is to get you out of the day-to-day rut about your job. At the same time, chances are that organizations in your community have computer networks. And computer networks are improved when people with different perspectives look at how they are put together.
Consider consulting with the person who runs the network at your place of worship, school, or social organization to understand the design and network goals. You can then offer advice and suggestions.
Engaging in Politics
Chances are, some political cause captures your imagination. Political efforts, both campaigns for individual office and ballot initiatives, often need to whip up a large network from scratch and then disassemble it after the election. This kind of opportunity is a great way to exercise some of your skills in a relatively forgiving environment.
Closing the Digital Divide
Here is yet another noble cause. This one, however, leverages your technical skills more than your networking knowledge. Organizations exist that accept obsolete computers, refurbish them, and then donate them to worthy individuals and causes. The PCs aren't up to snuff for you and me, but they can be a blessing to someone who has nothing.
This process also keeps electrical components out of the landfill. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that only 15 to 20 percent of home PCs are properly disposed of. It is better to reuse than recycle.
If this suggestion resonates with you, you'll have to do a little bit of research. Some states mandate that electronic waste be recycled through official electronic recyclers. In states with less formal guidelines, many retailers take the initiative and offer their customers an opportunity to recycle their old technology. In other states, nothing stops you from dumping your toxic PC in the lake (which is a bad idea).
Use your favorite search engine and search the terms PC, recycle, charity. You may find Eagle Scout projects doing this kind of work, organizations that hold build-ins and are seeking volunteers with your skills, or organizations that have the components and tools and would let you and your technical buddies use recycled components to build new PCs.
Bartering Your Services
Enough with saving the world. Let's get back to thinking about numero uno for a moment. Your networking skills are valuable, but this does not always necessitate the exchange of cash.
Trade your services building and setting up a network for someone else's services. The direct approach is to trade hour for hour. It may be easier, however, to trade task for task. For example, you will set up a network in your family lawyer's office if the lawyer will write your will. One issue is that an hour of networking time may or may not correspond in value to an hour of the other person's time. If you use, say, $100 per hour for networking services, you'll have a starting place for discussions.
The key to success when bartering is to be flexible in your negotiations.
Bartering for physical things is more complicated because often a discrete value is placed on a product while the value of a service is more arbitrary. The same principles of flexibility apply when negotiating for physical things.
Inspiring Others
After you have some experience, you have something valuable. You can sell your experience as a service. You can trade it for items of value. You can also teach others the lessons you have learned. As mentioned throughout this book, the demand for networking professionals is significant and growing. Other people can learn from your experiences.
Lots of people want to learn how to get more out of their network. You could put together a training program for small groups and teach them how to improve their home networks. You could become an instructor at a community college and teach networking. You could get your teaching certificate and teach technology in the public schools.
The only universal requirement when teaching networking is that you have to swear allegiance to the ISO 7-layer communications model. This model is an unwritten requirement (or rather, it was unwritten until I wrote it here).
Enabling Users Groups
You can find a range of users groups. At the lavish end are extravagant soirées at high-end resorts put on by manufacturers for their leading customers. The manufacturers roll out new products and collect user comments. A more modest example of a user group involves a few folks who get together over lunch at a local park and discuss tips and techniques that make their common technology work a little better.
The term user group can apply whenever a few people get together, in real life or online, to share experience of a common technology. It would be great to be invited to the lavish type of user group, but these are typically reserved for paying or prospective customers.
Chances are, are other networking professionals could use your perspective and experience. These others could be local or regional. Often it is most convenient to start one of these user groups before or after another meeting that is associated. For example, people involved in police and fire dispatching often have meetings to discuss tips and techniques. This kind of collaboration helps ensure interagency cooperation. A part of these conferences involves the unique technology used by police and fire. Some of the technical users took it upon themselves to have a technology users group to figure out better ways to interoperate for large crises. This was not the initial role of the local convention, but it certainly was a good outcome.
Nothing says you have to be actively employed in a particular area to be a part of a users group. You just have to have an interest. Out of these formal and informal users groups, important information is shared and new products are developed.
Contributing to Open Source
The previous section talked about user groups associated with a particular technology. These groups are typically associated with particular hardware or software product, but may also be involved in a class of products or a type of application. Other efforts in the high-technology community involve the pursuit of a utopian environment where individuals contribute technical skills for the benefit of all. This model is generically called open source and is an extension of the free software movement.
Here is where you come in. If you like this idea, you can help. Your particular skill might focus on networking applications or utilities. Go to the Google Play Store and search for network tools. You'll find a long list of free applications that help network managers, ranked by users and rated by their effectiveness.
If you are so smart, which you are, and want to contribute, here is a convenient place to donate your skills. Your success is measured by the number of downloads and the rankings you receive. You perform this work in lieu of compensation, but this type of work can be rewarding if your application is popular.
Mentoring Up-and-Coming Networkers
Most of the alternatives proposed in this chapter focus on networking on the technical side. Another important side of networking is working with individuals. Successfully helping other people with their careers can offer you the greatest satisfaction.
After you have established your reputation, you're in a position to help other people develop theirs. The technology with which we work in networking is rapidly changing, and younger people need help in skills, connections, and insight that an older individual can provide.
You don't need to be an elder to be a mentor. You do need to have the maturity to recognize that personal relationships are the glue that help make things work better, from solving small problems to achieving world-changing results.