Responsibilities of a Network Engineer
There are various and vital responsibilities that a network engineer has to undertake, like installation of various hardware, software and systems for the purpose of network, configuration, maintenance of network equipments and services. Then the network engineer is also responsible to provide administrative support to all the servers and its clusters, management of back up systems, restoration of protocols, network planning and supporting, and computation of infrastructure. Then he or she has to do the analysis of troubleshooting, servers, systems and workstations. Documentation and resolution of all network related problems, monitoring, implementation of good performance etc are part of the network engineer's duties. Management of emails, user accounts, anti-spam and anti-viruses are also his or her responsibility, with taking care of all the security related to network and security. These are some of the responsibilities and duties that a network engineer is entitled to undertake.
Skills Requirement for a Network Engineer
Candidates require possessing the following skills and abilities, which are comprehension and knowledge about the company and its business, requirements, focusing on the end user's needs and also the ability to fulfill the demands related to various technicalities. Applicants must have communications skills, with the ability to do multi-tasking, eye for details, analytical mind and ability to provide solution. Apart from these, he or she should also have teamwork qualities, organizational skills and also working under pressure capabilities.
Educational Requirements to be a Network Engineer
Candidates must possess some vital certifications, specializing in CCNA, MCSE, CCIE, CCNP and CNE, with a must graduate degree in IT, computer science and other related subjects. He or she must have knowledge in Cisco systems, Windows, Linux, Novell and UNIX. Along with experience in networking inclusive of hubs, switches, cables, servers, racks, LAN, firewalls, routers, ATM, MPLS, WAN, UDP, latency, PPP, NHRP etc should be part of the aspiring applicants. Various companies, especially banks and retailers, hire graduates in the IT section.
Network engineers average salaries are around $36,000 to $56,000 annually.
The career advancement in this field is largely depended on the organization, its size and the IT system scope within it. If candidates have prior experience and qualifications, then he or she can advance to the level of network manager or even in the position of a project manager. Most of the help desk technicians advance as network engineers and then gain seniority in this field as he or she works upon.
