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The differences between network engineers and network consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a network engineer and a network consultant. Additionally, a network consultant has an average salary of $89,303, which is higher than the $83,557 average annual salary of a network engineer.
The top three skills for a network engineer include switches, troubleshoot and network infrastructure. The most important skills for a network consultant are appeals, firewall, and windows server.
| Network Engineer | Network Consultant | |
| Yearly salary | $83,557 | $89,303 |
| Hourly rate | $40.17 | $42.93 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 72,346 | 58,194 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A network engineer is responsible for managing a network system, monitoring its performance, and upgrading its features to optimize performance and boost efficiency. Network engineers also create new systems, designing them based on clients' specifications and business needs. They also check network defects, perform troubleshooting, improve data security systems, and install security updates. A network engineer must have excellent knowledge of the technology industry, as well as a broad understanding of system codes, programming languages, and network configurations.
Network consultants are information technology (IT) professionals who are responsible for designing, setting up, and maintaining computer networks for an organization or at a client location. These consultants are required to meet with the manager of an organization and network engineers to discuss their networking requirements. By supervising a team of IT professionals, these consultants must administer technical issues and fix infrastructure issues onsite. Network consultants must also maintain documentation for IT infrastructure as well as coordinate network documentation with account managers.
Network engineers and network consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Network Engineer | Network Consultant | |
| Average salary | $83,557 | $89,303 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $111,000 | Between $60,000 And $132,000 |
| Highest paying City | Menlo Park, CA | Mountain View, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | Dell |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a network engineer and a network consultant in terms of educational background:
| Network Engineer | Network Consultant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between network engineers' and network consultants' demographics:
| Network Engineer | Network Consultant | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.6% Female, 9.4% | Male, 87.0% Female, 13.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 13.7% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 11.3% White, 61.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |