Many of my friends and family members say they consider fishing barbaric, and I can't totally refute their allegations. So, what attracts me to fishing as a sport? I think it's the discipline required to be good at it and the clear measure of success and failure.

The key to being a good fisherman--or an effective network engineer--is developing a systematic approach. With fishing, there are three key elements for success: First, you need to understand the behavior of fish from a biological perspective, and you need to understand how fish relate to their environment. Once you have a basic understanding of fish behavior, you need to get out there and learn how to tie the right knot on the right lure, how to position your bait and how to land the fish. Finally, though it is possible to independently discover all the hot spots on a lake, it's a heck of a lot more efficient to ask experienced fishermen and bait-shop owners where to go.

Really, fishing is just like developing your networking career.

Getting There From Here Many people have asked me for advice related to career development. How do I get a better job in the network field? How can I best position myself for promotion? What are the skills necessary to manage a large network organization? These are not easy questions to answer, but I have developed a relatively simple formula over the years, one that a few people have put to the test with some success.

Although most people are willing to invest in their success, some are looking for an easy ride. But just as a fisherman doesn't achieve success overnight, success is not so easily found in the network field. You've got to believe in yourself and work hard toward a goal. However, having a can-do attitude and working hard is not always enough. In this context, I offer my simple recipe for success in establishing or advancing your career in networking: Read everything you can get your hands on. Develop and refine your skills through hands-on experience. Learn to communicate effectively with the people around you.

Hooked on Packets Some people love to read; other people don't. Many people make excuses for not reading, professing that they learn better by doing. Fair enough--in that case, you'll probably want to skip to Step 2 ("Get Out There and Do It") below. But for now, read these words and read them well: There is no more efficient path to knowledge than through the written word. It can take you places you can't get to in any other way, and for most people, it's an absolute prerequisite to successful hands-on experience.

Each semester on the first night of my college class on LANs, I make it a point to dish out the jargon in a big way. I've had students get up and leave in the middle of class--no doubt off to the registrar in search of something a little lighter. I've also been known to have students read a few articles early in the semester that are way over their heads. My point? The networking field has a basic vocabulary that must be mastered, and reading and study is the best way to achieve this mastery.

To make this point, I ask the students, "How many of you studied a foreign language in high school?" All hands go up. Next I ask, "How many of you achieved fluency?" Most hands go down, including my own. In most instances, the single greatest reason for failure to master a foreign language is the failure to learn basic vocabulary. You get by the first year or two, locking just enough information into short-term memory the night before the exam. But sooner or later, it catches up with you. When the time comes to converse with someone, you're reaching for the dictionary. Sorry, that doesn't work--not in French and not in Ethernet.