We'll start with the most important element: hands-on experience. You have to have it. The problem for newcomers, of course, is getting that experience. My advice is to take any opportunity that comes up. An out-of-work friend of mine got a call from the school his child goes to. He isn't making much (enough to pay a few bills), but he is getting the hands-on experience that his former employer wouldn't give him.

There is little chance that my friend would have this project if he weren't already known as "a decent guy" by the people at the school. This brings up another point: You need to network. Whether you're looking for projects or a full-time job, the more people who know you and know you're looking, the better. Get involved! Trust me, that game of Civ 3, Diablo 2, or Nethack can wait.

If you're looking to learn about technology, then your query is probably more along the lines of "What should I be spending my time on?" If you've been in the industry for a while, you know that things get popular then fade. When a technology fades it doesn't go away, it's just not the place to be any more. Novell was where you wanted to be until about 1997, at which point Microsoft networking was where it was at. Cisco took off in 1999, and it still remains to be seen whether the current economic times will end its popularity.

When it comes to Cisco networking, you must, of course, get the basics first. This means you need to know TCP/IP, how routing works, how switching works and the basics of WANs. That's not to say that you need to know every routing protocol from BGP to RIP or every WAN protocol from ATM to X.25, but you will need to know the concepts in general and one method in particular. If I had to suggest one of each to learn, I'd pick OSPF and Frame Relay.

Security and IP Telephony are two big growth areas for Cisco. (Cisco corporate is pushing content networking, but I'm just not seeing it taking off right now.) The simple answer for anyone wanting to do anything with Cisco security products is to learn how to configure the PIX firewall and the VPN concentrators. If you really want to stand out from the crowd, dig into the documentation on the Cisco Web site and learn about security features in products that a lot of people have, but that not many know about. For instance, a VLAN Access Control List on a 6000 series switch can filter responses to requests, like DHCP, so that only packets from authorized servers will make it back to the client.

Traffic management is another large area to focus on. Companies would prefer to save money by being smart, not by buying more stuff. Quality of Service (QoS) is the area where you configure a router or switch to prioritize traffic. The company doesn't need to buy another T-1; it just needs a few tweaks on the router to determine that certain traffic is more important than other types. There are several types of QoS out there. None are superior in all situations, but I'd suggest learning how to manipulate traffic by using Route Maps as well as learning about the Type of Service bits in the IP header. For the advanced reader, Cisco allows prioritization out a Frame Relay interface on a DLCI by DLCI basis.

Finally, you have the area where Microsoft and Cisco meet: server applications. Network management products like HP OpenView or Cisco Works, as well as applications like Call Manager, tend to use knowledge gained from each side.

Diversification of knowledge base is a good thing --- you never know where the "next big thing" will come from, or even if it is something that you will want to do. The IT industry has a lot of things you can learn about that will increase your value and make it more likely you will land a job. By the way, if anyone needs a senior engineer who has done most of the Cisco stuff listed in this column, drop me a line.