A cybersecurity certification in the field of network engineering also shows employers that you are committed to continuing your education and keeping your skills current. After working as a junior network engineer for one to three years, you would have acquired the experience needed to choose a more focused career path. A network engineer can take many paths such as becoming a network analyst or administrator. Alternatively, you could also pursue roles such as network manager or solutions architect. It typically takes around five to ten years to move from a junior-level network engineer to a senior role.

There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Raissa Constante didn’t have any technical knowledge but she took Networking Academy classes and ultimately won 1st place in a NetRiders competition https://remotemode.net/ in Latin America. The LPI Linux Essentials and ITIL® Foundation Certification are central to this program. Included CompTIA certifications are A+, Network+, Security+, and Project+. Find out how different WGU is about personalizing and supporting your education.

Earn a certificate

“Typically, any Information Technology degree will help,” Witmer adds. When composing your resume, make sure that you show how your performance in each of your roles had a material benefit on the company network’s growth and evolution. Your resume is also a great opportunity to list your relevant skills and establish your brand. Realistically though, an internship is not going to work for everyone. Work and family responsibilities can make finding and working at an internship impractical. All SANS six-day training courses come with access to SANS Cyber Ranges.

• Without these, individuals are at a serious disadvantage in the IT marketplace.
• Network technicians are IT professionals who handle implementing, maintaining, and repairing computer networks.
• They validate skills needed to perform role-related tasks and activities at a specified level of competence.

And if you secure an engineering role in this burgeoning field, you’ll be responsible for managing the foundation of your organization’s IT networking system. The tech side of network engineering is also evolving on a continual basis, so no matter what your educational path, you’ll need to make lifelong learning a key priority. SANS offers some of the most highly regarded, state-of-the-art academic programs in network engineering. And SANS Technology Institute provides both an undergraduate certificate in applied cybersecurity and a bachelor’s degree program in applied cybersecurity. Both are great ways to gain the hands-on skills needed to start a career in network engineering.

Network Engineer education

Cisco is well known in the IT realm for having top certification options for this career path and, depending on where you earn your bachelor’s degree, some certs can be included with your coursework. For entry-level network engineer jobs, you’ll first need to get your bachelor’s degree in network engineering, information systems, IT, or computer engineering. You can then gain critical on-the-job experience to become a valued member of your team and move up within your organization or onto other senior-level opportunities.

Without these, individuals are at a serious disadvantage in the IT marketplace. In 2023, the average annual salary for a network engineer is over $94,845 with some lead network engineers making more than $144,000. As in most professions, more years of experience tends to translate to higher pay.

Are Entry Level Jobs in Network Engineering Dead?

Whether you want to go into product management for network services or learn cloud architecture, there are professional certification opportunities that can make you a stronger candidate for more specialized roles. With entry-level experience under your belt, you’re ready to become a staff-level network engineer. Not only will you how to become a windows network engineer plan and build network infrastructures, but you will also play a vital role in protecting your clients’ security systems from attack. You should have in-depth knowledge of network architecture, system software, and all applicable configurations. According to PayScale, the average annual salary for a network engineer is $76,961.

• In the beginning, your duties may revolve around networking administration, namely establishing the network environment for the office by configuring systems and enforcing network standards.
• In this article, we define what network engineers do, provide a summary of network engineer career goals and milestones, and break down the various jobs you can get by pursuing a network engineer career path.
• At this high level of expertise, many candidates have a master’s degree and several top certifications.

Depending on an organization’s requirement or network complexity, the organization will sometimes have global network engineers in different countries who take care of technological advancements throughout the firm. Network engineers ensure all network systems are functioning properly and their fundamental goal is to provide maximum network infrastructure, security, and performance to the end users. They focus on delivering high-availability network infrastructure to sustain onsite and remote activities of users.

Netwars is one of SANS’s most popular Cyber Ranges, pulling you into an interactive cybersecurity challenge to test your knowledge and provide you with valuable simulated but real-world experience. You might only get noticed if you demonstrate your value to your company’s IT efforts. Keep a record of how you have added value to various networking initiatives, and then communicate the results to your supervisor. For example, if you introduced a new process that cut server costs, make sure your employer knows it was you.