Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between network security 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 security engineer and a network consultant. Additionally, a network consultant has an average salary of $89,303, which is higher than the $88,322 average annual salary of a network security engineer.
The top three skills for a network security engineer include network security, windows and cisco asa. The most important skills for a network consultant are appeals, firewall, and windows server.
| Network Security Engineer | Network Consultant | |
| Yearly salary | $88,322 | $89,303 |
| Hourly rate | $42.46 | $42.93 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 91,892 | 58,194 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A network security engineer is responsible for maintaining the safety and security of all the organization's network systems, conducting regular configuration and maintenance to avoid unauthorized access and suspicious activities that may pose risks for the company's integrity. Network security engineers manage security threats and strategize resolutions to mitigate the reoccurrence of security issues. They also develop security enhancement recommendations, update network infrastructure, and monitor system activities. A network security engineer should have excellent communication and technical skills, as well as a strong command of programming languages and system codes.
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 security engineers and network consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Network Security Engineer | Network Consultant | |
| Average salary | $88,322 | $89,303 |
| Salary range | Between $64,000 And $120,000 | Between $60,000 And $132,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Mountain View, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | The Knot | Dell |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a network security engineer and a network consultant in terms of educational background:
| Network Security Engineer | Network Consultant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between network security engineers' and network consultants' demographics:
| Network Security Engineer | Network Consultant | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.7% Female, 9.3% | Male, 87.0% Female, 13.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 13.9% White, 61.1% 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% |