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The differences between consultant systems engineers and senior system administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a consultant systems engineer and a senior system administrator. Additionally, a consultant systems engineer has an average salary of $112,898, which is higher than the $98,146 average annual salary of a senior system administrator.
The top three skills for a consultant systems engineer include infrastructure, cloud and pre sales. The most important skills for a senior system administrator are linux, windows server, and troubleshoot.
| Consultant Systems Engineer | Senior System Administrator | |
| Yearly salary | $112,898 | $98,146 |
| Hourly rate | $54.28 | $47.19 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 144,261 | 100,873 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A consultant systems engineer specializes in designing and developing systems to optimize business operations, recommending solutions against problem areas. Among their responsibilities include gathering and analyzing data to identify the needs of operations, designing prototypes and test structures, performing research and analysis to determine the ideal practices, assessing existing systems to identify their strengths and weaknesses, and establishing guidelines. Moreover, a consultant systems engineer must maintain an active communication line with staff, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
A senior system administrator specializes in overseeing the computer system operations in an organization. Their responsibilities primarily revolve around monitoring the performance of all software and hardware, installing servers, configuring systems, and making sure every technical aspect is running smoothly. Should there be any issues, they must take charge of troubleshooting and providing solutions. As someone with more experience, a senior system administrator leads and evaluates the performances of fellow skilled professionals in the department, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
Consultant systems engineers and senior system administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Consultant Systems Engineer | Senior System Administrator | |
| Average salary | $112,898 | $98,146 |
| Salary range | Between $90,000 And $141,000 | Between $75,000 And $126,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Fortinet | Cambridge Associates |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a consultant systems engineer and a senior system administrator in terms of educational background:
| Consultant Systems Engineer | Senior System Administrator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between consultant systems engineers' and senior system administrators' demographics:
| Consultant Systems Engineer | Senior System Administrator | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.1% Female, 13.9% | Male, 89.0% Female, 11.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 12.7% White, 61.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 11.8% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |