How To Become A Network Engineer Internship: What It Is and Career Path

What is a network engineer internship and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Maryam Farahani

Working closely with experienced network engineers, a Network Engineer Intern ensures reliability and robustness of the organization's services and network. Since you are an intern, you should be willing to learn new concepts related to networks.

In addition, you may be tasked to design stimulated networks, communicate network status, and analyze data network documentation, among others. Most Network Engineer Interns today are bachelor's degree holders, so you might want to be confident in this aspect by having a bachelor's degree at the least.

As a Network Engineer Intern, you can earn an annual average salary of $67,643. This job also has a 5% growth rate, so you do not need to worry about finding companies you can apply to. Lastly, starting as a Network Engineer Intern, you can explore other careers. You can be a Network Engineer, a Network Administrator, a Systems Engineer, and a Manager of Systems Engineering. This is only one path, but you can explore other ones depending on your goals.

What general advice would you give to a network engineer internship?

Maryam Farahani

Engineering Instructor, Bakersfield College

Thinking about the fields they want to experience or try. And to be intentional about their job search. The best advice is learning as much as they can about what company offers. Visualizing themselves in the next 5 years as a starting point. Do they want to travel a lot, or be in management positions? Do they want to be subject matter expert, or a hands-on engineer or technologist? Their goal may change as they progress in their career but having one makes a big difference in their career choices and keeping them on track.

ScoreNetwork Engineer InternshipUS Average

Salary

5.7

Avg. Salary $72,885

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 13.64%

Black or African American 7.84%

Hispanic or Latino 11.56%

Unknown 5.00%

White 61.66%

Gender

female 18.38%

male 81.62%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a network engineer internship

Explore network engineer internship education requirements

Most common network engineer internship degrees

Bachelor's

65.7 %

Master's

18.9 %

Associate

11.0 %

Start to develop specific network engineer internship skills

Skills	Percentages
Python	17.22%
C++	8.36%
Java	5.76%
SQL	4.76%
Switches	4.58%

Complete relevant network engineer internship training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New network engineer interns learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a network engineer internship based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real network engineer internship resumes.

Gain additional network engineer internship certifications

Network engineer internship certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific network engineer internship certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for network engineer interns include CCNA Routing and Switching Certification (CCNA RS) and CCNA.

More About Certifications

Research network engineer internship duties and responsibilities

Manage all domain registrations, SSL certificate management.
Install and configure TCP/IP, DHCP, and DNS suite of protocols.
Upgrade Cisco IOS using TFTP.
Troubleshoot campus LAN/WAN relate issues in UNIX domain.

Prepare your network engineer internship resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your network engineer internship resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a network engineer internship resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable network engineer internship resume templates

Build a professional network engineer internship resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your network engineer internship resume.