Skills required for a network deployment engineer?

I might have the opportunity to get into a deployment gig at my work. I'm hoping it works out, but the past few days I've started wondering what exactly a typical week would consist of for this job. All I know is it requires a lot of travel and you get a lot of hands on experience, but other than that I really don't know what would be expected. Hopefully someone here can give me some insight.

Would the more senior engineers be the ones doing the configurations, with the newb like myself mostly just doing the physical installations and cabling, or would it be a mixture of both? What skills would be expected? I'm working on my CCNP but not quite there yet, so I'm a little nervous.

I know this might be hard to answer, as it might simply depend on the company, but any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

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Comments

NetworkVeteran

astrogeek wrote: »

Would the more senior engineers be the ones doing the configurations, with the newb like myself mostly just doing the physical installations and cabling, or would it be a mixture of both?

The smaller the company, the more likely you are to play a dual role. Personally, I don't do any heavy lifting, and the folks who have done heavy lifting for me, weren't/aren't tasked with modifying configs. I'd ask for clarification on the role before diving in.

That said, if someone from that team showed interest in learning more, wanted chances to do so, and seemed capable--I'd be totally up for that! They might have to work extra hours to avail themselves of those opportunities without falling behind.

sieff

the role of a "deployment engineer" would involve reviewing cutsheets or design guides provided by a lead engineer or architect and being the boots on the ground in an implementation. obviously depending on the situations you run into you'd have to make some decision and/or config changes yourself i'd imagine. good luck on the new role. congrats!

astrogeek

Nothing is confirmed yet so I'm probably over thinking something that might not even come to fruition, but I'm going to stay positive and hope for the best! I'm just so desperate to get into something more challenging that I didn't even bother to ask for details before saying yes. I'm still just sort of guessing in my mind what the job is, but even if I'm not doing the configurations I'd still be thrilled about the job, however, shadowing a senior engineer's work would certainly be a great bonus.

Thanks for giving me some ideas of what to expect, but I'll definitely get more details if this becomes more of a possibility.

nel

astrogeek wrote: »

Nothing is confirmed yet so I'm probably over thinking something that might not even come to fruition, but I'm going to stay positive and hope for the best! I'm just so desperate to get into something more challenging that I didn't even bother to ask for details before saying yes. I'm still just sort of guessing in my mind what the job is, but even if I'm not doing the configurations I'd still be thrilled about the job, however, shadowing a senior engineer's work would certainly be a great bonus.

Thanks for giving me some ideas of what to expect, but I'll definitely get more details if this becomes more of a possibility.

Dude, never ever accept a job without getting details about what it involves. Im sorry to be so blunt but that is a silly decision. At least ask for a job description etc first before agreeing.

A deployment/implementation engineer varies from my experience but typically it involves physical installation of devices that are pre-configured from higher engineers or templates. If it doesnt work you can take a look and see if you can see the issue or liaise with those at HQ/NOC to diagnose the issue.

VAHokie56

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

The smaller the company, the more likely you are to play a dual role. Personally, I don't do any heavy lifting, and the folks who have done heavy lifting for me, weren't/aren't tasked with modifying configs. I'd ask for clarification on the role before diving in.

That said, if someone from that team showed interest in learning more, wanted chances to do so, and seemed capable--I'd be totally up for that! They might have to work extra hours to avail themselves of those opportunities without falling behind.

Even if it is just more along the lines of a rack and stack/cable role and you want to break into the networking side of things this sounds like a good window. Just like Vet said most network people I have run across don't mind teaching stuff ( because we just like to blab about Cisco and are amazed when someone actually listens!) so get in there go hard and make them see you mean it!

astrogeek

nel wrote: »

Dude, never ever accept a job without getting details about what it involves. Im sorry to be so blunt but that is a silly decision. At least ask for a job description etc first before agreeing.

It was more of a casual conversation with my manager, I should have asked more info but honestly I'd probably take the opportunity either way. Right now I'm doing NOC work but it's basically just make sure the building doesn't catch on fire. I'm not getting much experience so I really want something more challenging. The best thing about my current position is I can easily study for certs, and was going to sign up to WGU soon. If the position does come through I'm still planning to sign up to WGU, even if it takes longer to complete. I just want some more quality experience than I'm currently getting, not to mention a pay increase!