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Senior switch technician vs network engineer

The differences between senior switch technicians 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 switch technician and a network engineer. Additionally, a senior switch technician has an average salary of $91,510, which is higher than the $83,557 average annual salary of a network engineer.

The top three skills for a senior switch technician include switches, test equipment and RF. The most important skills for a network engineer are switches, troubleshoot, and network infrastructure.

Senior switch technician vs network engineer overview

Senior Switch TechnicianNetwork Engineer
Yearly salary$91,510$83,557
Hourly rate$44.00$40.17
Growth rate5%5%
Number of jobs13,11372,346
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 38%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age4343
Years of experience22

Senior switch technician vs network engineer salary

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

Senior Switch TechnicianNetwork Engineer
Average salary$91,510$83,557
Salary rangeBetween $66,000 And $125,000Between $62,000 And $111,000
Highest paying City-Menlo Park, CA
Highest paying state-California
Best paying company-The Citadel
Best paying industry-Technology

Differences between senior switch technician and network engineer education

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

Senior Switch TechnicianNetwork Engineer
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 38%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common majorElectrical EngineeringElectrical Engineering
Most common collegeStanford UniversityCalifornia State University - Long Beach

Senior switch technician vs network engineer demographics

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

Senior Switch TechnicianNetwork Engineer
Average age4343
Gender ratioMale, 91.8% Female, 8.2%Male, 90.6% Female, 9.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 8.8% White, 64.6% 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 switch technician and network engineer duties and responsibilities

Senior switch technician example responsibilities.

  • Assist in managing CDMA network, Voice/EVDO circuit's layouts, CDM circuit inventory and roll over's for cell sites.
  • Test, turn-up, and performance monitoring of transport circuits including Ethernet, OC-N, T1, and T3.
  • Work extensively with Tellabs and Alcatel 5500 , 1630 , 1631, CS1L , 532 and Tadiran DACS.
  • Install, test, provision and turn up DS1, E1, DS3, E3, OC3 and OC12 circuits.
  • Participate in a role on Ericsson's LTE eNODE-B integrations.
  • Turn up DS3 and DS1 circuits - perform hot cuts during maintenance window.
  • 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 switch technician vs network engineer skills

Common senior switch technician skills
  • Switches, 16%
  • Test Equipment, 9%
  • RF, 7%
  • T1, 6%
  • AC, 6%
  • DS3, 3%
Common network engineer skills
  • Switches, 7%
  • Troubleshoot, 5%
  • Network Infrastructure, 4%
  • BGP, 4%
  • OSPF, 4%
  • Lan Wan, 4%

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