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Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; the acronym STEM has been recognized as the core of advancing American technological advancement. At the WSC2013 IT Network Systems Administration show in Leipzig, Germany, teams from across the globe are set to task to see who can best build, maintain, and secure network infrastructure. Their ultimate paths may lead to all our futures.
The competition draws entrants from around globe. While verbal communication can be difficult, they all understand the language of computer science. The ability to send and receive packets of data transcends borders. As the demand for data network administrators and systems engineers grows, the profession too exceeds the boundaries of the US. A good network engineer can almost name her price wherever she goes. Salaries in excess of $100,000 per year are in many areas the norm rather than exception.
What sets this profession apart from many others is the hard skills learned that allow the learned professional the ability to ply the trade at any place and at any time. During economic booms a greater portion of the workforce is able to capture more income, but when the downward cycle comes it leaves many of them without work. Network administrators with the ability to configure and maintain internal networks will never be outsourced.
The demand for technology graduates is greater than at any time. The craving of the American public for more bandwidth to support ever greater applications will surely keep network engineers busy for the foreseeable future. Businesses seek candidates from prestigious universities as much as from small town local colleges. An online network admin course can often be enough to open the door to a career well beyond expectation.
Article after article from network supervisors mention the need for experience. Once a candidate has a solid understanding of the fundamentals, they’re free to develop and be compensated as their efforts dictate. According to the National Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the average wages of network administrators in these respective states to be the following:
• New Jersey $81,160
• Maryland $80,100
• California $79,830
Those figures are well above state averages and almost twice the national average. A cursory glance through any help wanted section or online employment website will show just how in-demand a profession this really is even as overall unemployment remains well above historical averages.
Almost every new business uses voice over IP and the emergence of a remote workforce require a tremendous number of skilled technicians and engineers to protect the integrity of those networks. Cloud computing may be removing the need for as much infrastructure, but the need to direct and groom traffic is more vital than ever. Computer networking is here to stay. A place in this world exists for art history degrees, but networking engineers don’t have to find work, it finds them.
