The Network Technician Career Field
By Stephen Bucaro
As a Network Technician you'll have an interesting job where you'll be respected and
highly rewarded. Network Technicians are responsible for an organization's computer
and network infrastructure. The national median salary for Network Technicians is
$57,500 to $67,800, while the top 10 percent earn about $112,000.
Network Technician's Duties and Responsibilities
• Install configure, and maintain network cabling and network equipment
• Document the network's layout and architecture
• Troubleshoot and solve network problems
• Log network maintenance
• Install, configure, and maintain workstations
• Provide support to users
• Log support requests and resolutions.
A big part of a Network Technician's job is to setup user accounts and give them access
to the resources that they're authorized to access. By the same token, you'll restrict user
access to resources that they're not authorized to, and remove a user's accounts when
that user leaves the organization.
Another big part of a Network Technician's job is to monitor network performance to
recognize bottle necks and intruder attacks. To troubleshoot and resolve network bottlenecks.
And to determine the extent of damage caused by an intruder attack and determine action
required to repair that damage and protect the network from future attacks.
Network Technician Personality Type
• You'll make an excellent Network Technician if you like to read, to study, and to learn
new things. You're not going to get certified and then just kick your feet up. Computer and
network technology is always changing. You'll need to be a lifetime learner.
• You need to be a good problem solver. You have to keep a cool head while you
analyze a problem and develop a theory as to the source of the problem. You need to design
a way to test your theory and then implement a solution to the problem.
• You need good interpersonal and communication skills, which requires having patients
and being able to translate technical issues into language that non-technical people can understand.
The first several months, up to a year, when you first start as a Network Technician is the
"honeymoon" period. This is the time when you can ask any and all "stupid" questions without
your intelligence or competency being judged. During your first months on the job you'll be
expected to do the "grunt" work, like running cable and moving heavy equipment. But after
you're on the job for a while you'll get more challenging assignments which you'll be be
expected to handle on your own.
Normally as a Network Technician you'll work regular business hours. But when a severe and
urgent network problem occurs you might be expected to work overtime or on weekends or
holidays, until the problem is resolved. The job can get tedious and boring at times. When a
severe and urgent network problem occurs, the job can get stressful, but you can usually get
assistance from more experienced Network Technician co-workers.
As a Network Technician you'll have an interesting job where you'll be respected and highly
rewarded. The demand for Network Technicians is stronger than for most career fields and the
number of people employed in that occupation is expected to grow by 20% in the next decade to 443,800.
More Networking Basics:
• Cellular WAN (Wide Area Network) or Mobile Broadband
• Wireshark and Ethereal Network Protocol Analyzer Toolkit
• NRZ, NRZI, Manchester Encoding, What Does it Mean?
• What Routers Do
• Basics of Bluetooth Technology
• Network Know-How: An Essential Guide for the Accidental Administrator
• Servers - Racks, Blades and Towers
• Network Cabling For Beginners
• Wireless Networking Your PC
• What is Cloud Computing?
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