Switch engineer vs network engineer

The differences between switch engineers 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 switch engineer and a network engineer. Additionally, a switch engineer has an average salary of $103,588, which is higher than the $83,557 average annual salary of a network engineer.

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

Switch engineer vs network engineer overview

	Switch Engineer	Network Engineer
Yearly salary	$103,588	$83,557
Hourly rate	$49.80	$40.17
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	33,099	72,346
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	2	2

Switch engineer vs network engineer salary

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

	Switch Engineer	Network Engineer
Average salary	$103,588	$83,557
Salary range	Between $76,000 And $139,000	Between $62,000 And $111,000
Highest paying City	Concord, CA	Menlo Park, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	NetApp	The Citadel
Best paying industry	Telecommunication	Technology

Differences between switch engineer and network engineer education

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

	Switch Engineer	Network Engineer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	Northeastern University	California State University - Long Beach

Switch engineer vs network engineer demographics

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

	Switch Engineer	Network Engineer
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 89.0% Female, 11.0%	Male, 90.6% Female, 9.4%
Race ratio	Black 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, 7.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 13.7% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between switch engineer and network engineer 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.

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.

Switch engineer vs network engineer skills

Common switch engineer skills

Switches, 14%
MSC, 5%
Software Upgrades, 4%
VoIP, 4%
Trouble Tickets, 3%
T1, 3%

Common network engineer skills

Switches, 7%
Troubleshoot, 5%
Network Infrastructure, 4%
BGP, 4%
OSPF, 4%
Lan Wan, 4%