Tech Bytes: Meter Offers Up to $2,000 for New Network Engineers to Lab and Learn (Sponsored)

SPEAKER_1 (0:04)

Today on the Tech Bytes Podcast, we learn about Meter Grants. This is a new program from networking vendor Meter that offers up to $2,000 in grants for early career network engineers who are looking to get certified or advance their learning. So we're going to talk about how the program works, who's eligible, and why Meter is giving away money in the first place. Meter is our sponsor for today's episode. My guest is Matt Heim, Head of Partner Enablement at Meter.

Matt, welcome to the podcast. Just at a high level, tell us about Meter Grants.

Matt Heim (0:30)

Yeah, it's a really exciting program. We really wanted to help individuals that are looking to break into the networking industry, whether they're coming from recent graduates, whether they're trying to switch careers. We want to help people make that transition because we see in the industry, a reduction in talent in network engineers. We want to make that transition as easy as possible, especially if people don't really know where to start. So we wanted to launch Meter Grants as a way for them to be able to do that. And it's really exciting because it's up to $2,000 per person for them to be able to get help with study materials, certification exams, all those different things as an on-ramp to be able to come into the field.

SPEAKER_1 (1:09)

Okay. And so just to be clear, it's not necessarily just young people, it's people who are new to network engineering or beginners in the field.

Matt Heim (1:16)

Anyone new, young and old. We want anyone that's looking to make that transition really easy for them.

SPEAKER_1 (1:21)

And is it generally aimed at certifications, or I know there's grants for labs and learning stuff, but is it all geared toward certification, or how do you intend the program to be used?

Matt Heim (1:31)

It's not just geared towards certification. I think that's a natural pathway for a lot of people. They want to go to get their CCNA or their Network Plus or something like that. And so we want to be able to help them both with certification exam fees, but also study materials or a lab gear that they want to be able to use. Because I think that's something that's somewhat unique about breaking into the networking field, is that it really does require that hands-on component, setting up your own lab. It's not something easily done on some type of virtualization engine. We all know that the packet tracers and GNS3s of the world, and you're sometimes wondering, is this really enough to get me there? And so I think the lab materials and lab gear, especially, is something that this can be used with as well.

SPEAKER_1 (2:11)

So if, well, first, let's talk about amounts. What, up to $2,000, how does that break out?

Matt Heim (2:16)

Yeah, so it's up to $2,000 a person, but there are various different grants that can be used. $1,400 for different things like lab gear and lab fees, up to $200 for certification and exam fees. We don't really have a specified amount there that we really want to be beholden to. We want to be able to see what people are submitting to us. And I think that's also a big piece that's helpful, is coming into it with somewhat of an understanding or insight on what you want to be able to use the grant for. That really helps us with a lot of the applications when you submit.

It's knowing what you want to do, and then we can set up an interview to dig a little bit deeper to see what part of the grant or how much of the grant might be very useful for you.

SPEAKER_1 (2:55)

Okay. So if I wanted lab gear just because I'm trying to understand the field better, but I wasn't necessarily aiming for a certification track, would that disqualify me from a meter grant?

Matt Heim (3:05)

No, no disqualification there. I think we want to help people be able to acquire what they need to in order to make that journey easy. Maybe they're not yet ready to take an exam, they just want to start to get studying. They want to go down that pathway and maybe sometime in the future, take an exam, still the right place for them.

SPEAKER_1 (3:22)

Okay. So why did Meter start this in the first place? Companies usually aren't built around giving money away.

Matt Heim (3:30)

Well, we have a very big vested interest in the network engineering space. We have a firm philosophy at Meter that really great networks start with really great network engineers, great installs, great design. In order to do that, we need really great network engineers in the field.