About Me
I’m a 25-year-old network engineer with ~2 years experience, based in UK/Ireland, with a strong obsession for networking and automation.
A Brief History
I knew from a young age that I wanted a career in IT, although I wasn’t sure which direction I would take until I studied networking at university. That module completely changed my focus, and I’ve been obsessed with networking ever since. During an internship on a helpdesk, I earned my CCNA and began building a stronger foundation in networking. After graduating, I spent a year in technical support before moving into my current role as a network engineer within a large enterprise environment. Since then, I’ve continued developing my skills across routing, switching, security, wireless, and network automation.
Study/Lab Routine
I wake up at 04:30 each morning to study before work, with weekends dedicated to labbing and applying what I’ve learned throughout the week. I currently spend around 20–30 hours per week developing my skills. Until recently, much of that time was structured around certifications. I’m now shifting my focus toward targeted learning for fintech and trading infrastructure, with an emphasis on areas such as BGP, multicast, data centre networking, Linux, network automation, and performance.
Current Direction
I’ve decided to specifically target fintech network engineering for my next role. I’m fascinated by the extreme availability and performance requirements in trading environments, where even microseconds and nanoseconds of latency can matter. My long-term goal is to become a highly specialised network engineer with deep technical knowledge. I believe fintech and trading infrastructure would be an ideal environment to develop that level of expertise. The certifications I’ve completed have given me a strong foundation across enterprise networking, security, and automation. I’m now shifting from broad certification-focused study toward deeper, targeted learning in the technologies most relevant to high-performance financial networks.
Life Outside Networking
My hobbies and interests tend to change quite often, so by the time you’re reading this I may already be doing something completely different! In the past, I played video games at a competitive level—not professionally, but seriously enough that it took up a large part of my free time. After that, I spent around two years training Jiu-Jitsu, which I really enjoyed and would probably still be doing if my nearest gym wasn’t 40 minutes away. These days, I run three times a week, usually in the mornings. I also enjoy going out for coffee, listening to and attending shows for underground music, and travelling every few months to explore somewhere new.