Job Search :: I Got a Job

Who are you?

Name:
Pavel Stefanov

Age:
18

Country:
Bulgaria

Job:
Senior Network Engineer

Pavel Stefanov

Record Breaker

At the age of just 17, Pavel Stefanov became the youngest ever CCAI (Cisco Certified Academy Instructor) in Bulgaria. Just one year later, this young instructor broke yet another record, to become one of the youngest CCIEs certified in Routing and Switching at just 18 years of age.

The path to achievement
Listing all of Pavel's achievements since joining the Networking Academy programme would take a very long article indeed. Enthused by a love of computers, he was advised by his brother, Stefan, to enrol at his local academy in the Technical University of Sofia to study for his CCNA, from where he graduated in 2006.

Despite his age - or perhaps because of it - Pavel was already impatient to get ahead. Again on the advice of his older brother, he skipped CCNP to go straight onto CCIE, specialising in the Routing and Switching track.

In June the same year, he won the National Network Technologies Competition among 170-plus contestants. His prize was to be sent to the International Network Technologies Competition in Koshice, Slovakia (Cisco Olymp 2007), where he augmented his success by finishing 3rd overall.

Eager to gain direct industry experience, Pavel spent his summer in a trainee programme with Telelink, which he describes as "the biggest and most successful system integration company" in the country. It is also a Cisco Gold partner.

Pavel's time there was well spent on solving practical, real-world problems, as he graphically describes: "My main responsibilities were to prepare the lab equipment for the Cisco Gold Partner Audit. I had to build a topology of seven routers and two switches, with an MPLS backbone and Traffic Engineering Tunnels, which provided fast convergence and support for VoIP traffic."

Non stop
Pumped up with confidence from his summer experience, Pavel sought to broaden his knowledge still further. In October, he enrolled in the BCMSN course, specialising in switching, at the Bulgarian Industrial Association Networking Academy.

Having passed this course, Pavel refused to sit back and relax. Instead, his hard work and ambition paid off and he won the National Network Technologies Competition for a second time. Winning this competition earned him a spot in the International NetRiders competition, where he ranked among top 5. Pavel, and the 4 other top winners enjoyed an unforgettable experience: a trip to Cisco Corporate Headquarters in San Jose, California .

Flushed with awards and certificates, you might think Pavel's experience of ICT might be a little academic, but he disagrees totally, citing his courses as the cornerstone of real-world practicalities:

"The Networking Academy has more or less made me think like an engineer and taught me how to deal with issues when one arises."

"The various labs helped me develop a successful troubleshooting approach that I can use later in production networks and the real-world environment."

Pavel has successfully completed his High School studies and, apart from teaching Networking Academy courses, is currently a self-employed engineer. He is busy working on small SMB projects and provides training services to companies in the enterprise sector. Although no longer a student, the academy community is still very much part of Pavel's life. "I very much enjoy meeting with new people, establishing friendships, and dealing with cutting-edge technologies," he explains.

Work hard at what you love
To find the ideal job you should not have to look too hard. Pavel's advise to others looking for work is clear: "choose a job you love because if you do, you will never have to work a day in your life."

For more info about Pavel visit his blog: http://blog.omahalovers.net/?p=254

Download PDF

Rate this article

About | Contact | Useful links | Job Portal