How To Become A Senior Network Analyst: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior network analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Erik Johnson Ph.D.

A senior network analyst oversees all activities involved in maintaining the company's network system. You must ensure the company's network is up and running at all times and that computers within the same network can communicate effectively with each other. Your job requires that you analyze all network systems by running maintenance checks, identifying issues, proffer solutions, performing the relevant upgrade, fixing faulty installations, and then maintaining and improving the standard of the network.

When it comes to networks, factors such as internet speed and server utilization efficiency are most important to guarantee optimal performance. Your job also includes keeping abreast of new technology, implementing relevant new updates, hardware or software, and documenting all changes.

You can find yourself working in computer consulting firms, financial institutions, government facilities, or retail companies. Your mean annual salary is about $85,000. A minimum qualification of a bachelor's degree in computer science or a related discipline is usually preferred. You should also consider getting relevant certifications such as the Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP).

What general advice would you give to a senior network analyst?

Erik Johnson Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Economics, Carthage College

Economics gives you a set of tools to analyze a variety of policy and business problems. However, determining which tools to apply in which situation requires that you learn the industry, you are working from top to bottom. When you begin a new job in a new field, be sure to do everything you can to understand how the organization and the industry work to understand the primary incentives that everyone faces. One right way to do this is to make as many connections within the company you are working for as possible, and always be on the lookout for new opportunities within the company and how they can help you learn more. Moreover, do your best to ensure that a significant portion of your job involves some creative endeavors, such as economic modeling or building tools for yourself or others to use. As computing power continues to become cheaper, and artificial intelligence becomes more advanced, relatively repetitive tasks become more comfortable and easier to automate. Therefore, you will have less job security. Creative tasks, such as modeling and tool building, are difficult to automate and are more likely to provide you with more satisfaction.

ScoreSenior Network AnalystUS Average

Salary

6.8

Avg. Salary $87,180

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 9.82%

Black or African American 8.89%

Hispanic or Latino 12.58%

Unknown 5.08%

White 63.31%

Gender

female 12.04%

male 87.96%

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 senior network analyst

Explore senior network analyst education requirements

Most common senior network analyst degrees

Bachelor's

60.5 %

Associate

22.7 %

Master's

11.4 %

Start to develop specific senior network analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
Firewall	7.92%
Routers	6.90%
VoIP	6.07%
Lan	5.78%
DNS	5.20%

Complete relevant senior network analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior network analysts 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 senior network analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior network analyst resumes.

Research senior network analyst duties and responsibilities

Manage DNS initiative for the campus intranet and internet.
Implement and manage Linux base network monitoring and auditing.
Recommend, engineer and manage office systems, including centralize productivity and communication systems such as e-mail and centralize desktop environments.
Experience in several routing protocols, including OSPF and BGP.

Get senior network analyst experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a senior network analyst. The most common roles before becoming a senior network analyst include network technician, network engineer team lead and network administrator.

Prepare your senior network analyst resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior network analyst 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 senior network analyst resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable senior network analyst resume templates

Build a professional senior network analyst 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 senior network analyst resume.

Apply for senior network analyst jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a senior network analyst job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do senior network analysts rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

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1 star

Senior network analyst reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2020

Pros

I love the fact that I have self taught myself by trouble shooting issues for fifteen years while working in corrections as the Video court officer with no prior experince or degree

Cons

I dislike the fact that I don't get paid as a Video technician although I'm called to fix issues

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019