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Switch engineer vs network administrator

The differences between switch engineers and network administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a switch engineer and a network administrator. Additionally, a switch engineer has an average salary of $103,588, which is higher than the $71,357 average annual salary of a network administrator.

The top three skills for a switch engineer include switches, MSC and software upgrades. The most important skills for a network administrator are switches, windows server, and troubleshoot.

Switch engineer vs network administrator overview

Switch EngineerNetwork Administrator
Yearly salary$103,588$71,357
Hourly rate$49.80$34.31
Growth rate5%5%
Number of jobs33,099106,886
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 59%Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age4343
Years of experience22

Switch engineer vs network administrator salary

Switch engineers and network administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

Switch EngineerNetwork Administrator
Average salary$103,588$71,357
Salary rangeBetween $76,000 And $139,000Between $56,000 And $90,000
Highest paying CityConcord, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaWashington
Best paying companyNetAppGoogle
Best paying industryTelecommunicationFinance

Differences between switch engineer and network administrator education

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

Switch EngineerNetwork Administrator
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 59%Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common majorElectrical EngineeringComputer Science
Most common collegeNortheastern UniversityMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Switch engineer vs network administrator demographics

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

Switch EngineerNetwork Administrator
Average age4343
Gender ratioMale, 89.0% Female, 11.0%Male, 88.6% Female, 11.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 11.0% White, 61.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 9.6% White, 63.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between switch engineer and network administrator duties and responsibilities

Switch engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage Alcatel and Telecom Egypt technical teams.
  • Manage all aspects of DS3 and DS1 connectivity between various equipment and vendors.
  • Implement the latest Avaya VoIP technology that lead to cost reduction and improve VoIP features.
  • Manage mobile switch for 20-cell CDMA test overlie of Sprint/APC commercial GSM network in Washington D.C.
  • Manage, solve and coordinate daily operational support issues for 600 banks and 2400 workstations worldwide.
  • Assist RF engineers to ensure the best possible network performance.
  • Show more

Network administrator example responsibilities.

  • Lead and manage desktop standards project.
  • Manage backups using EMC Networker and Avamar.
  • Manage Solarwinds to monitor servers and networks for all locations.
  • Manage all provisioning and technical issues for new customer IP blocks.
  • Deploy and manage storage (windows file servers and NetApp NAS).
  • Manage all technology: Novell, Microsoft, Cisco, email, library, labs, dorms, programs
  • Show more

Switch engineer vs network administrator skills

Common switch engineer skills
  • Switches, 14%
  • MSC, 5%
  • Software Upgrades, 4%
  • VoIP, 4%
  • Trouble Tickets, 3%
  • T1, 3%
Common network administrator skills
  • Switches, 7%
  • Windows Server, 6%
  • Troubleshoot, 5%
  • Network Hardware, 5%
  • Routers, 4%
  • Lan Wan, 4%

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