Software & IT

network engineer

Name: Network Engineer skill & career-path data
Creator: Futureful

Learned from 384 real résumés for this role.

Across 384 real U.S. résumés for a network engineer, the most distinctive skills are Multicast, Cisco 7200 and Igmp — each far more common in this role than across all résumés. This is the real skill fingerprint, learned from résumés, not a job description.

Multicast: 2% have it · 253.4× vs average
Cisco 7200: 2% have it · 253.4× vs average
Igmp: 2% have it · 253.4× vs average

Based on Futureful's analysis of 102,822 U.S. résumés (2026).

What this means

Network engineers build and maintain the systems that keep organizations connected. The most distinctive skills across these 384 résumés cluster around routing and switching fundamentals, including multicast, IGMP, LACP, and data center technologies, along with hands on experience with Cisco hardware. Smaller shares list CDMA, port-security, and flow control. Together these point to a role grounded in real network configuration and troubleshooting. The career path here is well documented. Most people arrive from network administrator roles, with smaller shares coming from systems administrator, senior network engineer, and junior network engineer positions. Moving forward, many step up to senior network engineer or shift into network administrator work, while others branch into network security engineering or systems administration.

AI summary · grounded only in the real data above · never invents a number

Skill fingerprint

ranked by distinctiveness

The skills that most define this role, more common here than across all résumés. The bar shows how distinctive; the % is how many people in the role have it.

multicast

253.4×

2% · N=9

cisco 7200

253.4×

2% · N=6

igmp

253.4×

2% · N=6

cdma

253.4×

2% · N=6

lacp

207.3×

2% · N=9

data center technologies

190.0×

2% · N=9

port-security

253.4×

1% · N=3

flow control

253.4×

1% · N=3

ether-channel

253.4×

1% · N=3

cisco security manager

253.4×

1% · N=3

isr

253.4×

1% · N=3

cisco 3500

253.4×

1% · N=3

cisco 3800

253.4×

1% · N=3

cisco 3900

253.4×

1% · N=3

cisco catalyst 6500

253.4×

1% · N=3

Where people go next

Real onward moves from dated work history.

senior network engineer13% · N=126 network administrator12% · N=117 network security engineer4% · N=39 senior network administrator2% · N=21 systems administrator2% · N=18 support specialist2% · N=18 network2% · N=15 system administrator2% · N=15

Where people come from

The roles that feed into this one.

network administrator11% · N=270 systems administrator5% · N=39 senior network engineer14% · N=36 junior network engineer32% · N=30 system administrator5% · N=27 senior network administrator11% · N=18 systems engineer7% · N=18 network analyst13% · N=15

Common questions

Straight answers, every one backed by the real counts on this page.

What skills does a Network Engineer need?

In 384 real résumés for this role, the most defining skills are Multicast (2% have it), Cisco 7200 (2% have it), Igmp (2% have it), Cdma (2% have it), Lacp (2% have it). These are the skills that separate this role from the rest of the workforce.

What do people in Network Engineer roles move on to next?

From real dated work history, the most common next roles are Senior Network Engineer (13% of moves, N=126), Network Administrator (12% of moves, N=117), Network Security Engineer (4% of moves, N=39).

What roles lead into Network Engineer?

The roles that most often feed into this one are Network Administrator (11% of arrivals, N=270), Systems Administrator (5% of arrivals, N=39), Senior Network Engineer (14% of arrivals, N=36).

Does this page show Network Engineer salary?

No. Résumés do not carry pay, so Futureful holds no compensation data for this role and never invents a dollar figure. Every statistic here is a skill or career-move count backed by real résumés.

Where does this data come from?

The Futureful Career Atlas is built from 102,822 real US résumés, aggregated with no personal data. 384 of them are Network Engineer résumés. Every number on this page is a count of real people, and thin pages are kept out of search. Full method: futureful.app/careers/methodology.

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