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Role-In-Review: Network Engineer

3/29/2023

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careers in technology, IT-Role-In-review - Career Tips for IT Professionals

IT Role-in-Review - Network Engineer

Learn about the top skills and competencies companies look for when searching for a Network Engineer.


Are you a seasoned Network Engineer struggling with streamlining and optimizing your career documents (Resume, Cover Letter, LinkedIn Profile)? Interested in network engineering as a career path but not sure how to effectively communicate transferable experience and skills in a way that fits network engineering roles?
This month’s Role-In-Review article focuses on the critically essential Network Engineer role. Regardless of your experience level, continue reading to learn about the top competencies, capabilities, and skills companies look for when searching for a Network Engineer. Use these insights and examples provided to optimize your career documents.
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IT Professional Career - IT Role in Review - Network Engineer Resume - Network Engineer Top Skills
IT Role in Review – Network Engineer

⇒ Role Description: what would a Network Engineer normally do? How do they support technology projects and what value do they create?
The Network Engineer role requires the necessary skills to plan, implement and manage the computer networks that support the organization’s voice, data, video, wired and wireless network services. Network engineers have a deep understanding of network protocols and remain up to date with new technologies that help companies keep up with technological advancements to ensure a faster, more secure and productive network for its users. In addition, a network engineer understands and implements the principles of network security to configure / maintain firewalls, VPNs and antivirus software. The following is a general role description of a network engineer:
 
Network engineers design network solutions, define and automate configuration and implement efficient network solutions (wired and wireless) that are aligned with network standards, improve performance, and minimize network outages. Network engineers collaborate with IT management and other line-of-business leaders to discuss and decide upon overall business goals, policies and network status updates. They work closely with project managers and other engineers, manage capacity and carry out remote or on-site support.
 
Your introduction, throughout all of your career documents, should demonstrate how you master the core expectations of a network engineer and what unique value you are able to create for the hiring company. For more tips on optimizing your introduction, visit our previous post on how to create an effective IT professional profile introduction (Resume and LinkedIn).
 
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⇒ What are the business / technology areas and type of projects a network engineer can support? The following are just a few high demand specialty areas network engineers we have worked with possess.
  • Examples of IT projects a network engineer supports: a network engineer designs / deploys and upgrades network systems (often referred as “network refresh” projects). Build up data centers / consolidate and support M&A (mergers and acquisitions) programs.
  • Examples of functional organizations a network engineer can be part of: product teams, technical support groups and NOC (Network Operations Center) – providing support such as network monitoring, responding to incidents, troubleshooting and restoring network outages.
  • Network Engineers collaborate with network operations and security teams to troubleshoot complex networking issues and quickly restore outages in WAN, LAN and Wireless environments, meeting aggressive SLAs.
 
⇒ What are the top 10 competencies hiring companies look for? At IT Career Transformation, we develop a Target Role Analysis for our clients’ targeted IT roles to identify the appropriate keywords and competencies. It is essential that keywords and core competencies are included as many times as possible throughout all career documents. You can include these in your Introduction, Key Areas of Expertise / Competencies and Professional Experience sections. This highlights what sets you apart from other candidates and the unique value you can bring to hiring companies. Here are the top ten core competencies hiring companies look for in a Network Engineer:
IT Professional Career - Role in Review - IT Resume Keywords Optimization - Network Engineer top 10 competencies
IT Role-In-Review - Network Engineer - Top 10 Core Competencies
Specific areas of specialty depend on the hiring company’s particular industry and technology environments. Your career documents should contain specialties you possess and are relevant to your target role. Here are some examples of network engineering specialty areas in high demand:
IT Professional Career - Role in Review - IT Resume Keywords Optimization - Network Engineer Specialty Areas
IT Role-In-Review - Network Engineer - Specialty Area Examples
​⇒  Don’t forget to include your soft skills. In today’s competitive job market, companies are looking for the right soft skills in all IT roles. It is essential to include those interpersonal / leadership skills in which you excel throughout all of your career documents. Include terminology such as relationship development / management, adaptable and self-confidence. Here are a few more examples of soft skills recruiters and hiring managers look for in a Network Engineer:
IT Professional Career - Role in Review - IT Resume Keywords Optimization - Network Engineer soft skills
IT Role-In-Review - Network Engineer - Soft Skills Examples
⇒  What type of desired capabilities, professional experience and accomplishments are hiring companies looking for when searching for a Network Engineer? Most often, these are included in the “Responsibilities” or “What you will do” sections of the job description. Here are few examples of Network Engineer desired capabilities in high demand: 
  • Review and analyze network logs utilizing WireShark to identify root cause and to reduce recurring incidents.
  • Perform enterprise-level network assessment, design and lead implementation of network upgrade initiatives that improve network security and efficiency.
  • Possess essential programming/scripting skills to allow automation of configuration activities in large-scale network deployments and network refresh projects.
 
It is essential to write accomplishment statements in a form of “action—impact—results,” highlighting the value you created to your employer or customers, ideally providing tangible results (numbers) from your projects. Here is an example of an optimized accomplishment statement.
Performed enterprise-level network assessment, designed and lead implementation of a large-scale network upgrade initiative to replace and decommission network infrastructure (Cisco switches, routers and access points) across 250+ sites, enabling high availability and improved network performance.


⇒  What are the technical skills hiring companies look for when searching for a Network Engineer? This depends on the IT infrastructure and services the hiring company uses. Here are some of the technical skills often desired for a Network Engineer:
Cisco Switches, Routers, Access Points, BlueCat, SolarWinds Orion, Splunk, Wireshark, Tcdump, TCP/IP, BGP, NAT, DNS, DHCP, SMB, FTP, SSH, HTTP
 
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⇒  Additional desired qualities companies look for in a network engineer.
Most of IT Career Transformation’s network engineer customers gained the following certifications or are working toward obtaining them: 
  • CompTIA Network+: https://www.comptia.org/certifications/network#overview
  • Cisco Certifications such as Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) or Cisco Certified Network Professional Routing and Switching (CCNP-RS) – this is a product specific certification, which is often highly desired and listed in job descriptions: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/training-events/training-certifications/certifications/professional/ccnp-enterprise.html​

​We hope this review provides useful recommendations for you to use and share with your friends when optimizing career documents. Visit our Contact page and sign up to receive additional career tips.

IT Career Transformation is devoted to helping IT professionals and leaders advance their career. We work with IT professionals from entry-level to senior management and all types of IT roles to create the Optimum IT Professional Resume, Cover Letter and LinkedIn Profile, optimized with keywords relevant to the target IT role and specialty areas.  We provide specialized career development services that help IT professionals accelerate their job search.
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Do you need help optimizing your resume to your target IT role?


Visit us at  https://www.itcareertransformation.com/ for more information and to schedule your complimentary initial consultation.
IT Career Transformation - Connecting Talent with IT Industry Demand
www.itcareertransformation.com | (470) 210-7955 | info@itcareert.com

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