Network Engineer Salary??

whitelightrider

Folks, Ive been talking to a few people regarding my salary and each one is shocked that Im on so little where I work. Im wondering if you could give me a ball park figure as to what the industry is paying for someone in my line of work.

Network Engineer - 7 years with current company. Waiting to sit CCNA exam again but am working with routers and switches. Also experienced and using VMWare, Win 2K and 2K3 servers, AV, VPN's, DSL, Checkpoint, remote desktop and VNC.

Worked a total of 2 years with other companies in similar roles and currently doing my degree through Oscail after being out of college for about 8 years.

rick_fantastic

what is your salary?

BossArky

40 to 50 k euro?

Pablo

Where are you located ? Dublin ?

whitelightrider

Ah I think ye should sit down folks. Until June of this year my salary was €30K and I got a raise or €4K so right now Im earning €34,000 a year.

What do you make of that?

loyatemu

it's not great, but networking salaries vary a bit depending on what type of company your working for and what exact line of work you are doing. - get your Cisco exams and look around - Google are hiring....

Raekwon

whitelightrider wrote:

Ah I think ye should sit down folks. Until June of this year my salary was €30K and I got a raise or €4K so right now Im earning €34,000 a year.

What do you make of that?

You are only on €34k after 7 years with the company??? :eek: :eek: Tight gits!

A person like yourself with 9 years experience should be on around €50k-€60k easily by now. You say that you are waiting to sit your CCNA again, I take it that you took it around 3 years ago and you need to renew it? Why not go for the CCNP and look for a new job that will pay you what you are really worth!

whitelightrider

Im living in Galway and am looking around. To be honest I thought the money was fine until I started looking. And that was only after a recruitment agency contacted me about a possible opening in Smyths in Galway.

I took the CCNA exam last year and failed, although just about. So Im waiting to get into the study mind again and resit it aswell as my degree.

But I do think the money is crap for what Im doing down here and the experience I have.

Raekwon

whitelightrider wrote:

I took the CCNA exam last year and failed, although just about. So Im waiting to get into the study mind again and resit it aswell as my degree.

Ah right, I thought that you had the cert and were just renewing it. You should go for it again anyway, as you know it is a fairly tough exam (the time factor more then anything else) but Cisco certs are always in demand and that combined with your experience, you should have no trouble getting a much better paid job.

whitelightrider

Cheers. Im dusting off the books as we speak!!!

I was just annoyed at the salary when I found that the Data Entry supervisors were earning more than I was. More or less ticked me off.

Millionaire

In dublin (as most of my experience is dublin, country is usually few K lower), I would say easily 40 up to 50, depending on how good you were.

I placed a gentleman with about 4 years exp in Desktop Support with some phone support, recently and he got 33K and the benefits and package was massive.

Another with 8 years experince, I got him 48k, and also a massive bonus and benefits package, though this guy was very good. (and a salary raise after his 1st 6 months)


Why not make a list of all the IT companies in Galway that hire Network Engs, and the bigger corporates with a large IT Dept, call up, find out who the IT Manager is, send your CV, with a personalised cover letter, saying your skills and what you want to do, and then (the hard part- lol....!!!) follow up with a call a few days to a week later, and see is there anything coming up. (therefore your taking control of it yourself, as opposed to relying on us recruitment guys)

I do n't really do any work for Galway based companies (i am 90% Dublin) so I would have nothing for you, but if you do the above you might open up a new position for yourself...and better money too!

If you got any questions PM.

Good Luck

Gerry

BossArky

If you are Galway based check out SAP - combining network skills with some SAP basis stuff could have you living the highlife in a while.

34k a year is pretty bad - they are exploiting you.

whitelightrider

BossArky wrote:

If you are Galway based check out SAP - combining network skills with some SAP basis stuff could have you living the highlife in a while.

34k a year is pretty bad - they are exploiting you.

I'll do that. Where would be the best place to look at this Boss?

Kali

Are you actually a Network Engineer? What do you do on a daily basis, from the looks of it I'd say you're an IT/System Administrator.

The CCNA should be a piece of cake for anyone calling themselves a Network Engineer... and thorough knowledge of VLANs and trunking, STP, HSRP, IGPs as well as ATM/MPLS and BGP would be implied... as well as direct experience with Cisco/Juniper core & distribution routers and L2/L3/L4 switchs.

A System Administrator with 7 years experience should be on 30-45k... a Network Engineer with that number of years would be looking at 45-80k+

whitelightrider

Kali wrote:

Are you actually a Network Engineer? What do you do on a daily basis, from the looks of it I'd say you're an IT/System Administrator.

The CCNA should be a piece of cake for anyone calling themselves a Network Engineer... and thorough knowledge of VLANs and trunking, STP, HSRP, IGPs as well as ATM/MPLS and BGP would be implied... as well as direct experience with Cisco/Juniper core & distribution routers and L2/L3/L4 switchs.

A System Administrator with 7 years experience should be on 30-45k... a Network Engineer with that number of years would be looking at 45-80k+

Hi Kali. Well the job title says Network Engineer. Daily basis covers everything from Server maintenance and building (on occassion), router and switch programming (routing queries and tidying up), VMWare building of servers and images, PABX programming and maintenance.

And I wouldnt tell anyone that the CCNA is a piece of cake because it's not. I have a strong understanding of TCP/IP and routing principles and work well with routers and switches. But some people react differently in exam situations and the time constraints make it tough.

WizZard

You do sound more like a System Admin rather than a Network Engineer, regardless of the title of your position though.

The concepts and practices of the CCNA should be a piece of cake for a network engineer with 7 years experience, but exams can be tough, mentally.

whitelightrider

I could very well be a Sys Admin rather than a network engineer. But either way the salary does seem a little low when you take into account the amount of experience I have.

rick_fantastic

salary is very low. i just finished college in may and im working in id say similar role as you. citrix / linux / microsoft exchange and server admin, networking with cisco and juniper setups and asa firewalls / pbx alcatel phone / web design

im getting paid 31k and company is paying for me to do a part time master course aswell.

i have 4 years part time tech support experience while in college and this is my first proper job

whitelightrider

Im telling you Rick, until last June or July I was on €30k and was happy with it cos I never really looked around. But when they gave me the €4k rise I got suspicious and started looking. I was a little ticked off when I saw what others were on. Now there are good benefits with this company but the base salary is pretty bad from what I can see.

Arathorn

Hey sent you a PM about CCNA, 34 is WAY too low im on 30k after just a year in that field, you might need to move around get your ccna first!

whitelightrider

Arathorn wrote:

Hey sent you a PM about CCNA, 34 is WAY too low im on 30k after just a year in that field, you might need to move around get your ccna first!

Cheers Arathorn. Thats excellent. Definitely gona take a look at that and see how I get on. The more I read on these posts the more I realise that Im not getting enough money! Really appreciate the info.

vimak

I agree with the poster who said CCNA is piece of cake. I did mine when I had worked for few months for a telco (not in Ireland and I was 17 at a time) and got 1000/1000. Unless you really don't have to deal with networks and Cisco stuff then you could explain failing the CCNA.
34k doesn't seem too bad for someone with no knowledge on networking working as network engineer. Though the title seems to be little off

whitelightrider

vimak wrote:

I agree with the poster who said CCNA is piece of cake. I did mine when I had worked for few months for a telco (not in Ireland and I was 17 at a time) and got 1000/1000. Unless you really don't have to deal with networks and Cisco stuff then you could explain failing the CCNA.
34k doesn't seem too bad for someone with no knowledge on networking working as network engineer. Though the title seems to be little off

Vimak, I dont understand your post. Are you implying that I dont have any knowledge of networking? I can assure you that I have and I have worked in the industry for over 7 years. I also did the CCNA course with guys who have worked exclusively on CISCO kit and they too failed the exam so I stand by my statement that the CCNA is not a piece of cake.

Arathorn

CCNA can be tough unless you know the exam techniques to pass, I have one and I work with guys who have far better networking knowledge than me that have failed it, so its not a measure of skill and most networkers would agree with that

jank

I agree with the poster who said CCNA is piece of cake. I did mine when I had worked for few months for a telco (not in Ireland and I was 17 at a time) and got 1000/1000. Unless you really don't have to deal with networks and Cisco stuff then you could explain failing the CCNA.
34k doesn't seem too bad for someone with no knowledge on networking working as network engineer. Though the title seems to be little off

dont mind him, an obvious wind up.

The Salary is low you should be on about 10k more if not more.

whitelightrider

jank wrote:

dont mind him, an obvious wind up.

The Salary is low you should be on about 10k more if not more.

Thanks jank. Im gona try and get some interviews under my belt and see if I can talk to my manager about bringing my salary up to what it should be.

BossArky

whitelightrider wrote:

Thanks jank. Im gona try and get some interviews under my belt and see if I can talk to my manager about bringing my salary up to what it should be.

Maybe try and have a few outside opportunities before going to your manager. You current salary may be low, but it is better than nothing i.e. if your manager gives you the boot upon realising that you are unhappy / on his case.

mathias

I may be misreading what you posted but I take it from your posts that you are resitting the CCNA and your Degree , Just to be clear , do you have your Degree ?

You have been in your position or similar for 7 years , and thats a good bargaining point , but with regard to salary and moving for better money , and to be on the same salary scale as your peers , thats not going to happen until you have competed you exams.

Possible employers are never going to offer you the same money as someone with the same experience and Degrees under their belt.

Apologies if Im reading it wrong , but if it is the case that you dont yet have your Degree then 34K is not bad for your position and you'll find it difficult to get better without the qualifications.

Raekwon

This might be good news for you whitelightrider

Cisco Systems to create Galway R&D centre

US communications technology company Cisco Systems is to establish a global research and development centre in Galway with the creation of 50 new jobs in its initial phase.

It is anticipated to grow this number to 200 jobs over the next three years with a number of the posts requiring Masters and PhD qualifications.

The new centre will focus on communications technologies to reduce what the company describes as 'communications chaos that disrupts business processes and slows decision making'.
Advertisement

Cisco already employs 66 people in Dublin in sales and support operations. Today's announcement comes with the support of IDA Ireland.

The company says its new Galway centre will be an integral part of its future worldwide R&D activities.

Cisco Chief Development Officer Charles Giancarlo said the move was part of a broader strategy to expand investment in development around the world.

'We view Ireland as an excellent area to establish our new R&D facility in the area of Unified Communications, both because of the positive business climate and because of the established talent pool,' he said.

jank

great to see more knowledge based jobs coming into ireland.
Just what the country needs

Also a big bonus that its outside of Dublin.

Moonbeam

"Apologies if Im reading it wrong , but if it is the case that you dont yet have your Degree then 34K is not bad for your position and you'll find it difficult to get better without the qualifications."
Thats not true,if you are good at what you do the degree really doesn't matter.

Are the other network engineers there paid similar?
Have you 7 years experience in this field? or are you working 7 years?

vimak

I've been working for my current employer for 6 months, I'm getting 30k. Worked in customer support before.

...I wonder how much I should ask after completing my CCNP next year.

Moonbeam you might want to re-take that CCNA, and before the exam read all the little bits and pieces (I recommend reading the Ciscopress Certification Guide) about those little details they might ask like different parameters. After reading that book I think you should pass easily. CCNP won't probably be too hard either, depending on your Cisco exposure of course. Employers seem to like these Cisco certifications, that was also the reason why my CV was picked up from Monster.

mathias

Thats not true,if you are good at what you do the degree really doesn't matter.

If you believe that then you really are in a land of make belief , take a look at the requirements for any engineers post , most require a diploma or degree minimum , look at the posting above for the Cisco positon , it needs a masters or Phd , do you really think they will consider anyone without these. ?? Not likely.

It is possible to work your way up within a company to an engineer position without the qualification , but this is nearly always done on the understanding that you are studying and will have the qualifications soon , until you do , employers will always use your lack of qualifications to keep your salary low.

I think once the OP gets qualified he will find that a big salary jump is not far behind , until then , its good money for an unqualified engineer !!

CiaranC

Moonbeam wrote:

Thats not true,if you are good at what you do the degree really doesn't matter.

Do you work in IT? You think qualifications and certification doesnt matter? :eek:

whitelightrider, if you've been a 'Network Engineer' for 9 years and havent attained the lowest level of certification, I think its pretty obvious where the problem is. You say you did the CCNA exam 'last year' - thats at least 11 months ago. You should be looking to resit a failed exam a couple of weeks afterwards, not a year later.

Start certifying up and look around, you'll bounce up to €50k with that experience and a few certs no bother.

vimak

How about in Ireland, if you have CCNP or even CCIE and years of experience, how much does degree really matter?

mathias

How about in Ireland, if you have CCNP or even CCIE and years of experience, how much does degree really matter?

That is not the point of this thread , The OP wants to know why his salary is so low , my opinion would be that he does not have the relevant qualifications , some employers ask for Degree or equivalent , for some maybe the CCNP and CCIE might be enough , but the OP has neither !!

I personally dont think the CCNP or CCIE would amount to the equivalent of a Degree , In my opinion they are very useful extra qualifications , but they hardly carry the same weight as a four year college Degree !!

DublinEvents

Why would a four year degree matter to an employer? They don't teach anything in a four year degree that you can apply on the job. Four year degrees are nothing but a load of crap. At least a certified person has more knowledge about the practical stuff he will be doing for, say a networking job position.

mathias

The way of the world , mine is not to reason why , if you want a good salary in an engineering role , then Degree it is , like it or not !!

CCNP and CCIE are validation programs for professionals ( i.e already qualified in general ) , they are not meant to be a starting qualification although a lot of people do this.

ForgottenPast

the location is a big part of sallary aswell.. on the westcoast the sallary is much lower than in dublin! sounds to me like you should be on a little higher sallary tho. if you relocated to dublin id say you would get some more doe in your pocket. but would you really wanna live in dublin

whitelightrider

mathias wrote:

The way of the world , mine is not to reason why , if you want a good salary in an engineering role , then Degree it is , like it or not !!

CCNP and CCIE are validation programs for professionals ( i.e already qualified in general ) , they are not meant to be a starting qualification although a lot of people do this.

I take your point Mathias. Which is why I am back studying for my degree. As for jumping back in and retaking the CCNA exam, time and other projects here at work simply did not permit it. It's not a cop out, just a fact. Now that I am back studying for my degree Im hoping to take the CCNA aswell and therefore have both certificates.

But my main point was my salary. Whether or not it was a good one for someone with 7 - 9 years experience. I havent looked at salary markets for other engineers out there and am just looking for a reference point and some advice.

whitelightrider

ForgottenPast wrote:

the location is a big part of sallary aswell.. on the westcoast the sallary is much lower than in dublin! sounds to me like you should be on a little higher sallary tho. if you relocated to dublin id say you would get some more doe in your pocket. but would you really wanna live in dublin

No! Definitely not. I was up there last week working in our office on Amiens street and its a totally different lifestyle up there. It's all go go go. No time to relax or unwind. At least down this side of the country it seems that little bit more relaxed after work.

Raekwon

mathias wrote:

I personally dont think the CCNP or CCIE would amount to the equivalent of a Degree , In my opinion they are very useful extra qualifications , but they hardly carry the same weight as a four year college Degree !!

Well your personal opinion is rubbish! A CCIE easily outweighs a college degree, even more so when there are only 12,000+ CCIE's in the whole world.

mathias wrote:

CCNP and CCIE are validation programs for professionals ( i.e already qualified in general ) , they are not meant to be a starting qualification although a lot of people do this.

CCNA is a starting qualification, you cannot do a CCNP without a CCNA, so your theory that a lot of people start off by doing a CCNP or a CCIE is completely inaccurate.

CiaranC

A CCIE easily outweighs a college degree, even more so when there are only 12,000+ CCIE's in the whole world.

Apples and oranges tbh.

A college degree is a totally different thing to a specific industry qualification.

Both have entirely different aims and merits.

mathias

CCNA is a starting qualification, you cannot do a CCNP without a CCNA, so your theory that a lot of people start off by doing a CCNP or a CCIE is completely inaccurate.

You totally missed the point , by starting qualification I meant a general qualification such as a degree , a qualification indicating you have achieved a certain standard of education , valid for life !!

CCxx are meant to be done post grad ... and have to be re-validated every three years ,

From the horses mouth ...

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/le2/le0/le9/learning_certification_type_home.html

vimak

Raekwon wrote:

Well your personal opinion is rubbish! A CCIE easily outweighs a college degree, even more so when there are only 12,000+ CCIE's in the whole world.



CCNA is a starting qualification, you cannot do a CCNP without a CCNA, so your theory that a lot of people start off by doing a CCNP or a CCIE is completely inaccurate.

Starts to be completely OT, but you can take CCIE without CCNA or CCNP. However it's usually easier to get the lower level certifications first.

Raekwon

mathias wrote:

You totally missed the point , by starting qualification I meant a general qualification such as a degree , a qualification indicating you have achieved a certain standard of education , valid for life !!

No I got your point, you implied that potential employers look for degrees over CCNP's or CCIE's, that is simply not true. IT degrees are entry level but they are not worth the paper they are printed on without the relevant industry certificates (and of course experience, but that goes without saying).

In the case of the OP, he wants to earn more money as a Network Engineer so why should he get a degree when all he needs is a CCNA to complement his experience?

Starts to be completely OT, but you can take CCIE without CCNA or CCNP. However it's usually easier to get the lower level certifications first.

Do I need a degree to decrypt this? :rolleyes:

CiaranC

Ah the old 'I dont have a degree and Ive done alright so they must be worthless' tack is it?

Raekwon

CiaranC wrote:

Ah the old 'I dont have a degree and Ive done alright so they must be worthless' tack is it?

Nope, just the anti-'If you don't have a degree you are worthless' tack If you want a debate on Certs vs Degrees then start another thread.

Btw what did you edit from that one sentence??? :rolleyes:

CiaranC

Ah now everyone is equal, just some of us are more equal than others. Like those of us with degrees for example.

Raekwon

Good luck in the real world poindexter

Millionaire

In 8 years working with Network Engineers down to Tech Support, I never in this sector of IT, seen a company I was finding IT Engineers go..."sorry he got no degree" they are more interested in the hands on experience.

However I have seen companiens refuse to interview people because they had No MCSE or No CCNA.

In other sectors such as software development, I have seen people being refused because they have no degree, or in some case no Masters Degree.