How to hire a wan engineer

How to hire a wan engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step wan engineer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a wan engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new wan engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the wan engineer you need to hire. Certain wan engineer roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A wan engineer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, wan engineers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   The following list breaks down different types of wan engineers and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of WAN Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   WAN Engineer	Computer networks are critical parts of almost every organization. Network and computer systems administrators are responsible for the day-to-day operation of these networks.	$38-66
   Information Technology Administrator	An Information Technology (IT) administrator is a professional responsible for managing the day-to-day operation of an organization's IT systems and ensuring that the systems are running effectively. IT administrators must conduct consistent analyses of the computer system and install updates when needed... Show more	$24-50
   Systems Administrator	Systems administrators are employees who oversee information technology infrastructures in the office. They are skilled information technology professionals who are knowledgeable about the company's network systems and other technology-related infrastructures... Show more	$28-48

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Switches
   • Windows
   • BGP
   • Linux
   • Juniper
   • OSPF
   • Network Environment
   • MPLS
   • Lan Wan
   • EIGRP
   • Firewall
   • VPN
   • Network Infrastructure
   • QoS

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead a project for updating IOS on routers throughout the Theatre.
   • Manage IP address database while monitoring traffic through SolarWinds, to provide traffic analysis and address future expansion requirements.
   • Configure, support and troubleshot MPLS, P2P, DS3, T1, Ethernet, and WIFI connections.
   • Assist with the IOS upgrade project for all Honeywell Cisco routers and switches.
   • Provide network operations support for an IP rout network which consist of CISCO routers and switches.
   • Implement DHCP for dynamic TCP/IP configuration.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your wan engineer job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A wan engineer can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, wan engineers' average salary in oklahoma is 37% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level wan engineers 41% less than senior-level wan engineers.
   • Certifications. A wan engineer with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a wan engineer's salary.

   Average wan engineer salary

   $106,444yearly

   $51.17 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level wan engineer salary

   $81,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 20, 2025

4. Writing a wan engineer job description

   A job description for a wan engineer role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a wan engineer job description:

   Wan engineer job description example

   The **WAN Engineer III** is responsible for design and development of network services and technologies to meet client and business unit requirements. Primary objective is to identify optimal networking and communications solutions that deliver long term capabilities, capacity, reliability and resiliency for the business units and clients to successfully maintain and grow their business operations
   **RESPONSIBILITIES**
   
   + This role involves understanding of the client and business unit requirements and designing and deploying optimal networking and connectivity solutions that enable clients and business units to achieve their operational and business goals.
   
   + Required to prepare recommendations and supporting details for formal proposals for network connectivity and configurations.
   
   + Day-to-day interaction with telecom providers, equipment suppliers and 3rd party network vendors, to engage their technical resources to perform tasks.
   
   + Role sometimes requires scheduling and attendance on overnight maintenance windows.
   
   + Resource can expect to routinely be called upon to analyze and interpret traffic and utilization of services on network connections.
   
   + Participation in disaster recovery exercises, pre-production certification testing and troubleshooting events is expected.
   
   + Coordinate internal Fiserv operations to meet and exceed data communications project expectations (including but not limited to engineering/development, certifications testing, Network and IT Operations, capacity planning and production readiness.
   
   + Accountable for resolving all project level, cross-functional, partnership issues and escalations.
   
   + Manage partner/client expectations for data communications connectivity and related services to Fiserv products and applications, throughout project(s) lifecycle. Client expectations include functionality, cost, delivery schedule, support readiness and relationships (usually working directly with senior level technical resources, project managers and business decision makers at client).
   
   **FUNCTIONS**
   
   + High organizational skills
   
   + Ability to handle multi-tasks and meet deadlines
   
   + Ability to work efficiently and productively with minimal direction or guidance
   
   + Capable of exercising discretion and independent judgment
   
   + Ability to handle extremely confidential information in a professional manner
   
   + Ability to communicate, both verbally and written, with a high level of confidence
   
   + Travel on occasion
   
   **EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE**
   
   + College degree or comparable certification in IT, telecommunications, computer science, or related field is preferred.
   
   + 5+ years hands on experience required in design, planning, coordination and implementation of technology projects among multiple telecom and equipment vendors and customers.
   
   **SKILLS (Required)**
   
   + Hands on experience in layer-2 protocols (Spanning-tree), HSRP
   
   + Hands on experience in layer-3 protocols (EIGRP, BGP), route distribution, router filtering
   
   + Hands on experience configuring MPLS, DMVPN IPSEC VPN, GRE
   
   + Hands on experience configuring Cisco IOS
   
   **SKILLS (Desired)**
   
   + Prior experience with VRF, NAT/PAT
   
   + SD WAN
   
   + NX-OS Experience
   
   + Firewall Experience

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find wan engineers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your wan engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit wan engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit wan engineers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with a wan engineer applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new wan engineer

   Once you've selected the best wan engineer candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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