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Name:
Béatrice Rollin

Age:
28

Country:
France

Job:
Project Manager

Béatrice Rollin

Working Out Networks - How This Former Gym Teacher Trainee Switched To ICT

Béatrice Rollin changed career by enrolling in a Networking Academy. She gained her CCNA, through 60% e-learning, and is now a Project Manager managing school networks in France.

Changing Career Before It's Begun

It's not easy when you realise you've made the wrong decision. Worse still when it is one that will affect your whole future. After two years' hard training to become a gym teacher, that's exactly what happened to Béatrice Rollin, from Marseille, France, now 28 years old.

She decided to move to a vocational college in Aix-en-Provence and study ICT, but the transition was not without difficulties, as Béatrice explains: "I actually started off faced with a real challenge, because my previous training was not enough. So I had to make up for huge shortfalls in certain academic subjects." Clearly, she needed to catch up, fast.

Perfect Timing

At the beginning of Béatrice's second year, her vocational college became the first in France to implement the Networking Academy programme. In order to boost her expertise as quickly as possible, Béatrice pursued a CCNA and took full advantage of the flexibility of e-learning, doing 60% of the course online, at home, whilst enjoying her practical work in the lab, which was to prove invaluable in launching - and sustaining - her new career.

As she says herself: "The Cisco Networking Academy program gave me the self confidence I needed to launch a career in networking and has given me the desire to keep on learning. Thanks to this training, I have solid knowledge and skills which allow me to quickly adapt to new network technologies. As an ICT novice, CCNA had the advantage that this programme is open to people without prior technical knowledge," she explains. "I found it difficult to follow the IT courses during my initial training and the CCNA gave me the opportunity to reach the level required and gave me the motivation to succeed."

Working With Wireless

And succeed she did. In 2001, Béatrice completed her first module, and gained the other three the following year. Thanks to her qualification and experience, she became an IT Assistant for the Council of Bouches du Rhône. From 2004 to 2008, she worked in middle schools on the Ordina 13 project, which provides wireless connections to students in vocational education.

Initially, she was hired as a technician, "but during the last two years," explains Béatrice, "I have been managing the network in various schools all around Marseille. In July 2008, I was promoted to Network Administrator. Today, I am a Project Manager and I manage a network of 150 schools. My mission includes validating and developing all network technical solutions, managing IT projects, resources, planning, and more."

Sound Advice, Solid Skills

Béatrice now hopes to study for her CCNP, and says: "My biggest advice would be 'hard work pays'. One should not hesitate to spend time on the training." She also says her experience of the programme has given her "the ability to configure Cisco and other network equipments and to adapt easily to any situation."

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