How To Become A Virtualization Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a virtualization engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Professor David Sanford

Virtualization engineers manage data storage, server resources, and other virtual computing platforms. They perform various functions, including data migration, virtual machine set-up and training, troubleshooting end-user problems, and designing assessment tools for storage and visualization applications.

They may need a bachelor's degree in engineering or information technology. This job requires them to keep up with the pace of innovation, so they need to continue their education with the latest industry developments. Previous work experience with data storage, managing server resources, or machine learning can help them stand out from other virtualization engineers.

Virtualization engineers in America make an average salary of $99,336 per year or $48 per hour. Their paycheck may go up if they have additional certifications from major software vendors, such as Microsoft and Cisco.

What general advice would you give to a virtualization engineer?

Professor David Sanford

Associate Professor an Department Chair (MIS, CS, CYB MGT, IS CYB), Northwood University

Workers like that they are challenged to solve problems and lead technological innovations.
They appreciate the diversity of projects
They enjoy the need for continuous improvement and education
Many see the global impact of their work.
They also desire and appreciate the need for versatile skills
A competitive salary is also an item that employees like

Workers dislike that the work can be stressful
Dealing with tight deadlines and/ or cybersecurity concerns.
This is a positive and a negative: The need to constantly stay up to date with technology can be a bit overwhelming for some.
There may be times of isolation, and
The unexpected system failures can be frustrating as they often require extra hours or the need to be on-call.
The multiple responsibilities and managing repetitive tasks are also issues workers point out in this field.

In short, the workplace offers exciting opportunities but comes with its fair share of pressures and challenges. Different people have different experiences based on their roles and personal preferences.

ScoreVirtualization EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.5

Avg. Salary $97,397

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 13.72%

Black or African American 7.88%

Hispanic or Latino 11.60%

Unknown 5.00%

White 61.50%

Gender

female 4.99%

male 95.01%

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 virtualization engineer

Explore virtualization engineer education requirements

Most common virtualization engineer degrees

Bachelor's

68.1 %

Associate

15.0 %

Master's

11.7 %

Start to develop specific virtualization engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Troubleshoot	9.45%
Virtualization	9.26%
VDI	7.53%
VSphere	6.97%
SAN	6.63%

Complete relevant virtualization engineer training and internships

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

Research virtualization engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage and maintain iSCSI storage systems.
Implement and manage 3 UCS domains with 200+ blades.
Install and manage SSL and VPN solutions for extranet connectivity.
Implement, manage and update the CRM tool to track requests.

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