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Senior network consultant vs network engineer

The differences between senior network consultants and network engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a senior network consultant and a network engineer. Additionally, a senior network consultant has an average salary of $98,825, which is higher than the $83,557 average annual salary of a network engineer.

The top three skills for a senior network consultant include visio, firewall and project management. The most important skills for a network engineer are switches, troubleshoot, and network infrastructure.

Senior network consultant vs network engineer overview

Senior Network ConsultantNetwork Engineer
Yearly salary$98,825$83,557
Hourly rate$47.51$40.17
Growth rate5%5%
Number of jobs39,17572,346
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age4343
Years of experience22

What does a senior network consultant do?

Senior network consultants manage office infrastructure expansions, relocations, and establishing disaster recovery sites. They should be their clients' contact, advisor, and primary advocate with the help of their peers and the entire organization. They help clients understand implementations while encouraging them to focus on their business goals using modern technology to gain an advantage over their competitors. A senior network consultant should have the capability to see beyond technical expertise, ensure their client's needs are met to the best of their abilities, and involve them in coming up with solutions.

What does a network engineer do?

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.

Senior network consultant vs network engineer salary

Senior network consultants and network engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Senior Network ConsultantNetwork Engineer
Average salary$98,825$83,557
Salary rangeBetween $71,000 And $136,000Between $62,000 And $111,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CAMenlo Park, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyAmazonThe Citadel
Best paying industryTelecommunicationTechnology

Differences between senior network consultant and network engineer education

There are a few differences between a senior network consultant and a network engineer in terms of educational background:

Senior Network ConsultantNetwork Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common majorElectrical EngineeringElectrical Engineering
Most common collegeNortheastern UniversityCalifornia State University - Long Beach

Senior network consultant vs network engineer demographics

Here are the differences between senior network consultants' and network engineers' demographics:

Senior Network ConsultantNetwork Engineer
Average age4343
Gender ratioMale, 90.1% Female, 9.9%Male, 90.6% Female, 9.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 13.8% White, 61.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%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%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between senior network consultant and network engineer duties and responsibilities

Senior network consultant example responsibilities.

  • Manage design of DNS gTLD architecture.
  • Lead and supervise team of 15 staff members through complex-wide efforts to port-map network switches in over 100 residential dormitories.
  • Excele at managing major network-wide upgrades; improve speed and predictability of multicast and order-routing data.
  • Configure NAT solution's on Cisco IOS routers.
  • Monitor and troubleshoot the protocols EIGRP, OSPF and MPLS.
  • Implement Infoblox DDI (DHCP, DNS & IPAM) for proof of concept and migration in corporate environment.
  • Show more

Network engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage UCCE deployments which include CUCM, IPIVR, CVP , 3rd party reporting and CUIC.
  • Manage UNIX's projects to meet project dateline while solving daily network crisis.
  • Perform the tasks of designing, implementing, supporting, and managing networking and telecommunication infrastructure.
  • Manage all domain registrations, SSL certificate management.
  • Create locally manage and centrally manage gateways on checkpoint firewall.
  • Manage and administrate security policy and procedures for all VPN network connectivity and accounts.
  • Show more

Senior network consultant vs network engineer skills

Common senior network consultant skills
  • Visio, 10%
  • Firewall, 4%
  • Project Management, 4%
  • BGP, 4%
  • Nexus, 3%
  • Switches, 3%
Common network engineer skills
  • Switches, 7%
  • Troubleshoot, 5%
  • Network Infrastructure, 4%
  • BGP, 4%
  • OSPF, 4%
  • Lan Wan, 4%

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