Top Network Engineer Skills: Boost Your Career Today

What is a Network Engineer?

A network engineer is a technical professional with expert skills in designing, planning, and managing various kinds of networks to facilitate smooth connections and communication in terms of wireless network services, video, data, and voice. With great networking expertise and network engineer skills, network engineers are responsible for implementing high-level configurations and network infrastructure, administering network system security and troubleshooting problems.

They are essential parts of the IT teams, as they are well-versed in the functioning of networks and offer necessary software and hardware tools for rapid, secure, efficient connection and communication in different areas.

What Does a Network Engineer Do?

Typically, a professional with excellent network engineer skills participates in the following activities regularly:

• Installation and configuration of network equipment
• Maintenance of computer networks such as routers, mainframes, VPNs and other physical hardware
• Creating firewalls and updating security systems and virus protection software to protect communications on data
• Troubleshooting, resolving and communicating networking problems to management and other employees
• Implementing a disaster recovery process
• Maintaining present information and understanding networking and security best practices to provide the best protection and solutions for the company systems.

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Network Engineer vs Network Administrator

While both network engineers and network administrators are involved in troubleshooting and upgrading network systems, their roles differ significantly. A network administrator's primary responsibility is to monitor and maintain networks once they are established. On the other hand, a network engineer, with their specialized skills, is involved in the design and implementation of networks, making crucial decisions that shape the network's functionality and efficiency. 

Some of the other major differences between network engineers vs. network administrators are discussed in the table below:

Factor	Network Engineer	Network Administrator
Corporate ranking	Network engineers work under the directions given by the chief information officer of a company or the chief technology officer (CTO).	Network administrators report to administrators and network engineers.
Educational requirement	A network engineer must have a bachelor's degree in programming, computer, engineering, or other related fields. For even higher network engineering positions, candidates must have a master's degree as well, along with certain network engineer skills and experience with computer networks.	Network administrators must have an associate degree from a well-recognized institution.
Salary	A network engineer earns around $102,763 as an average salary in a year.	The salary of a network administrator is worth $71,296 annually.
Career opportunities	Network engineers with proficient skills can advance their careers into chief technology officers or IT project managers.	Network administrators can also become network engineers or avail other managerial positions within IT science and computer departments.

Examples of Network Engineer Skills

A network engineer can fulfill the expectations of their company and complete tasks with positive results by possessing specific technical solid and interpersonal network engineer skills, including:

• Troubleshoot

You might have encountered the word 'troubleshoot' when fetching errors on a wireless connection or a browser. To become a valuable asset to your organization, you must know the troubleshooting process, which is one of the network engineer's required skills. 

• Analytical Skills

Analytical skills include the ability to divide complex problems and implement technical processes. These network engineer skills are essential for a successful career in network engineering. They assist engineers in evaluating systems and methods for efficiency and represent their ability to analyze data efficiently. Analytical skills help network engineers assess risk management and system performance and identify issues based on real-time data.

• Networking

As a network engineer, you must be proficient in handling network architectures, such as LAN and WAN. With network infrastructure, users can communicate and connect with multiple users and computers in a wide demographic. Gaining knowledge about WAN or other network types is a basic skill requirement for network engineers, as companies use this network regularly to communicate and share large amounts of data or information.

• Firewall

Network engineers are expected to establish and maintain social networks. To do this, they must have a detailed understanding of firewalls, such as host-based firewalls, network firewalls, and cloud firewalls. Firewalls can scan users and restrict access to networks, servers, applications, and databases. Network engineers must know their best practices and policies to monitor, select and patch them.

• Time Management

Time management is a crucial skill for network engineers to possess. As a network engineer, you must understand when to provide input and then assign tasks to team members to complete the project on time. You can also follow certain time management practices that help you set milestones and consider your schedule before committing to an uninvited task.

• Automation

Network engineers today automate their regular tasks, such as device configuration, to save time and productivity and invest them in other important tasks. Hence, as a network engineer, you must be familiar with multiple automation tools to boost your team's and your productivity.

• Communication

Fluent written and verbal communication also falls under network engineer skills, which are very important to elaborate complicated network concepts to non-technical clients and stakeholders, as well as to collaborate effectively with other team members.

• Problem-Solving

Network engineers use problem-solving skills to analyze, identify and solve issues that occur in networks. This also includes applying technical knowledge, logical thinking, and creativity to implement the best solutions available. As networks are unpredictable and dynamic and evolve constantly, you might face problems such as security breaches, network failures, configuration errors, performance issues, or compatibility issues. To diagnose and solve the root cause, you must learn effective problem-solving.

• Network Infrastructure

Network engineers must know how to create a functional network for a company, start-up, or small business. By having experience with reliable networks and infrastructure, engineers can help companies stay operational and react to unexpected errors. Network engineers mask and design available, adaptable, secure, and scalable networks to fluctuating business requirements.

• Network Virtualization

Network virtualization includes creating virtual networks sourced from one physical network. Network managers must understand making a virtual network via obstruction layers and virtual hosts, as it helps them respond immediately to business requirements. Modern-day organizations depend entirely on virtual networks; hence, it is a crucial skill for network engineers.

• PQRST

PQRST stands for preview, question, read, summarize, and test. It is a well-crafted studying strategy created to enhance learning and recall by engaging with these steps. It is a precious method to improve critical thinking and long-term retention. Network engineers can tailor this method according to their desired learning style and materials, making it adaptable to their profession. It is a highly required skill for aspiring network engineers to boost their knowledge and information in a systematic way to enhance their professionalism.

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• Programming Language

Network engineers create and maintain networks using programming languages, including Python, Perl, Ruby, and C++. These languages allow network engineers to perform database integration, write custom scripts, and enable network virtualization.

• Project Management

With project management skills, network engineers can offer successful results by handling network projects from deployment to inception, including managing resources, time, frames, and personnel.

• Network Security

Network engineers must have a detailed understanding of fortifying networks through VPN, firewalls, intrusion prevention or detection systems, and familiarity with mitigation methodologies and cyber security risks.

• IP Addresses

IP address is the foundation of IP networking as it lets devices identify and locate one another on the network. When a network engineer designs a network, they must first understand the number of devices connecting to a particular network node, and they must plan an IP submission around that. By underestimating this, network engineers might cause IP allocation problems. Hence, end users cannot connect to the users or network if the IP pool gets exhausted. As a network engineer, you must know how IP addresses work, the process of assigning and calculating IP addresses, and how to troubleshoot errors in IP addresses.

• Network Switch

Network engineers must master network switching skills. It is their responsibility to manage, understand and optimize switches and routers, which are the major elements of all network infrastructure. Switching network engineer skills are also essential for engineers who function with network performance, scalability, and security.

• Teamwork

Network engineers are required to collaborate with multiple individuals across the organization and its different apartments. They must collaborate with supervisors, team members and other individuals within the company. Hiring managers seek network engineers who can work with and lead teams of system analysts, IT technicians and software developers to achieve a company's goals.

• Attention to Detail

A network engineer must know how to pay attention to detail when identifying and troubleshooting network problems. They must have a keen understanding of varied problems and their potential impacts on the network's performance. 

• BGP

Border gateway protocol (BGP) is the most essential protocol that network engineers should master. BGP is utilized on the Internet to exchange routing information between autonomous systems. Network engineers must study BGP as it is a dynamic and complex protocol that requires ample skills and knowledge to implement and troubleshoot effectively.

• CCNA

For aspiring network engineers, CCNA is the perfect starting platform. It helps them learn about fundamental networking aspects, from acknowledging the process through which data travels the network to basic network device configurations.

• Network Design

By learning network design, network engineers can create efficient and scale network blueprints that align with business requirements and include components like fault resilience, redundancy, and load distribution.

• Network Devices

Network engineers establish and maintain network security. However, for this, network engineers must have a detailed understanding of network devices. Network devices carry forward data communication and transmission between devices, boost network performance, enable secure and efficient network connectivity, optimize traffic flow and offer network security via threat prevention and accessing control.

• Monitoring Network Performance

By learning to monitor network performance, network engineers can offer visibility into the network stack and analyze traffic patterns in real time. Moreover, network engineers can monitor communication between Kubernetes pods, hosts, services, and other meaningful endpoints apart from IP connection data.

• Advanced Routing and Switching Techniques

Network engineers must be proficient in the administration and configuration of switches and routers, optimizing data flow, and comprehending routing protocols.

Importance of Network Engineer

Engineering is a profession with multiple specializations and branches, each with its particular importance. One such field, network engineering, specializes in controlling the Internet and network areas. As everything depends on digital systems, advanced technology, integrated circuits, or a connection to the Internet, none of it would have been possible without a network engineer.

Network engineers plan, organize, and implement everything related to establishing electronic networks, such as the Internet or the computer.

Hence, network engineers have great imagination and intelligence as they can connect multiple digital pieces of information without any errors. Using modern computers to smartphones, using the Internet and even accessing social media would have been impossible without the presence of network engineers and their capability of designing, creating, implementing and verifying networks.

How to Improve Network Engineer Skills?

You can learn and implement the steps discussed below to enhance your network engineer skills:

Focus on your Education

The first and most essential step towards building your network engineer skills includes formal education. You can select from a bachelor's degree in information technology, computer science, or programming. These subjects provide you with a clear understanding of network engineering basics. Moreover, by pursuing a master's degree, you can gain information on cloud environments, databases, and interfaces. Consider enrolling in a program that includes theoretical knowledge and practical applications to offer you valuable hands-on professional experience before applying for jobs.

Professional Experience

You can get professional experience via projects and internships, even when pursuing your education. Consider job openings and internships on company websites, online jobs, portals, and professional social media platforms. By beginning professional experience, you can understand the application of theoretical concepts and identify motor skills you must develop.

Practice your Skills

Along with acquiring new network engineer skills, focus on practicing the older ones to strengthen them. While you explore technical skills at your job, you can also boost your interpersonal skills, such as analytical thinking, communication, creativity, and problem-solving abilities. Moreover, you can enroll in a professional course to gain skills such as business communication. Keep yourself well-versed with the latest trends and developments in the field by attending seminars or conferences and reading informative articles about network security.

Job Opportunities

As a network engineer with robust experience and network engineer skills, you can explore the following job opportunities:

• Network Support
• Network Security Engineer
• Network Architect
• Network Administrator
• Networking Analyst
• Network Manager
• Network Security Analyst
• Networks Support Engineer
• Systems Administrator
• Systems Engineer
• Technical Support
• IT Project Manager
• IT Manager
• IT Consultant
• Network Consultant
• Cyber Security Analyst
• Information Security Analyst
• Wireless Network Engineer
• Cloud Network Engineer
• Technical Trainer
• Network Operations Center (NOC) Technician

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Conclusion

As a network engineer, you are responsible for operating, managing, monitoring, designing and implementing effective measures to promote smooth network functioning. As technology is rapidly evolving, you learn something new daily as a network engineer. The position of network engineers is rising quickly with fantastic growth opportunities. But to grab the best positions, you must outperform the other candidates with your sharp network engineer skills and immense knowledge. 

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FAQs

Q1. How does a network engineer troubleshoot network issues?

By tracking and collecting information and data on network events, a network engineer troubleshooting network issues. The collected information from the tickets provides insights to fetch issues and resolve them.

Q2. How can a network engineer enhance network performance?

A network engineer enhances network performance in the following ways:

• Network setup adjustments
• Diversifying the network into segments
• Updating network hardware
• Implementing load balancing
• Optimizing network protocols
• Increasing network redundancy

Q3. What are the best practices for network engineers in large enterprises?

The best practices for network engineers in large enterprises are as follows:

• Troubleshooting and analytics
• Networking
• Effective communication
• Time management
• Security and firewalls
• Installing and configuring network equipment
• Creating and maintaining network documentation

Q4. How do network engineers design network architecture?

Network architecture designing includes selecting suitable software and hardware, planning for data management and storage, considering Internet connection requirements, and ensuring the essential security measures are taken care of.

Q5. What programming skills are beneficial for a network engineer?

some programming skills that are beneficial for network engineers are:

• Java
• Firewalls
• PQRST
• Network security
• Troubleshooting
• Network automation
• Networking
• Python