Defining a Network Engineer qualification

Hi all,

A question if i may, does attaining Cisco Certification ie. CCENT,CCNA, CCNP and CCIE state that you are a Network Engineer?.

The reason I ask is that I can not find a university course in Ireland that deals specifically with network Engineering.

If someone from my area can enlighten me i would be very grateful.

Its open to you all good folks from around the world also.

Regards

Eamonn

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Comments

Forsaken_GA

like most job titles, it's pretty vague. I've seen descriptions for a network engineer describe what I would consider a windows system administrator. The Cisco certs do not automatically qualify you to be called a network engineer, you do that yourself by demonstrating your competence with the technology, whether that be through certs, work experience, or a degree

Essendon

IMHO, Network Engineer is not indicative of the level you have attained. But it wouldnt really be wrong if a CCNA called themselves a Network Engineer because in a sense you are but according to the level attained, your skill's at associate level. A CCNP/IE calling themselves Network Engineer is more appropriate.

PremierCisco

Thanks guys for your replies.

Also Essendon, i like your profile picture victoria bitter i drank a few of those while in Australia. How about Coopers?

Regards

Eamonn

mikedisd2

PremierCisco wrote: »

Also Essendon, i like your profile picture victoria bitter i drank a few of those while in Australia. How about Coopers?

VB is what you give to your guests. It stands for Visitor's Beer.

ColbyG

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

I've seen descriptions for a network engineer describe what I would consider a windows system administrator.

God I hate that. Happens to me all the time when looking at job postings. I see "Network Engineer" and get all excited, only to look at the post and realize it's really a Sys Admin/Eng position.

I wish there was a standardized way to post jobs.

shednik

hussainavl wrote: »

I am a good network engineer

you can find how at

Braindumper I should have known...stay off my network!!

mikej412

shednik wrote: »

Braindumper I should have known...stay off my network!!

It's more ****/**** Blog SPAM

hussainavl wrote: »

I am a good network engineer

buh-bye

Ashenwelt

New here, but thought I would drop my two cents in on this one. Granted a little erratic in it… but hey.

These days network engineer and systems engineer are basically interchangeable. Not that they should be, but just because they often overlap. For example, my title is normally any of these: systems engineer, network engineer, lead network engineer or sr. systems engineer. How does it get decided on my projects? Simple: how much time do I spend on switches, routers, firewalls or other network infrastructure. If it is around 40% or more, I usually end up having network in my title. So, if you are looking for a NE job, do not forget to check SE jobs as well.

Then again… the job market right now is just WEIRD.

Granted I had one job that was titled systems admin… and it was mainly running printing for an AS/400 and converting a network over to Ethernet from token ring:)

ColbyG

Ashenwelt wrote: »

New here, but thought I would drop my two cents in on this one. Granted a little erratic in it… but hey.

These days network engineer and systems engineer are basically interchangeable. Not that they should be, but just because they often overlap. For example, my title is normally any of these: systems engineer, network engineer, lead network engineer or sr. systems engineer. How does it get decided on my projects? Simple: how much time do I spend on switches, routers, firewalls or other network infrastructure. If it is around 40% or more, I usually end up having network in my title. So, if you are looking for a NE job, do not forget to check SE jobs as well.

Then again… the job market right now is just WEIRD.

Granted I had one job that was titled systems admin… and it was mainly running printing for an AS/400 and converting a network over to Ethernet from token ring:)

I think that gets less typical the bigger a company is. My last couple positions have been for large companies, with very large networks. I don't think it would be possible to have the same people doing networks and systems, there is too much on both sides. It is very, very rare to find someone who is an expert in both networks and systems. At the large business/enterprise/ISP level, you need experts for both areas.

phantasm

ColbyNA wrote: »

I think that gets less typical the bigger a company is. My last couple positions have been for large companies, with very large networks. I don't think it would be possible to have the same people doing networks and systems, there is too much on both sides. It is very, very rare to find someone who is an expert in both networks and systems. At the large business/enterprise/ISP level, you need experts for both areas.

I would agree here. I work for a national ISP and our systems guys deal with who knows how many different systems. The Network Engineers don't have time to do that with out network covering a vast portion of the United States.

binarysoul

A network engineer is someone who has an Engineering degree in networking from a recognized university. Nobody else qualifies as 'engineer'.

ColbyG

binarysoul wrote: »

A network engineer is someone who has an Engineering degree in networking from a recognized university. Nobody else qualifies as 'engineer'.

Hahaha. Really? I always assumed someone who engineers the network would be considered... an engineer.

networker050184

This argument has been raised here before about who can be considered an engineer or not. IMO if you fill an engineers role then you are an engineer regardless of degree. If you have a degree more power to you, but just having a degree doesn't make you anything.