Network technician: what he does, skills and salary

The network technician is the professional responsible for installing, configuring, operating and maintaining telematics systems. It can work on computer networks, or on a company’s internal networks that-not connected to the Internet-allow employees to access all the data and information they need.

Typically, the network technician is a graduate in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering, or a computer expert who has taken an ad hoc course.

Network technician, the job

The network technician has a wide range of responsibilities, falling under the ICT category of computer and network systems.

Specifically, it installs, maintains, repairs and upgrades computers, equipment and network systems. Computer network technicians subsequently maintain and supervise the use of LAN, WAN, and data center infrastructure, as well as corporate Internet, intranet, and extranet.

It is therefore a highly technical profession, requiring perfect knowledge of hardware and software, computer networks and connectivity.

In fact, the network technician handles everything from installing new systems to protecting against cyber attacks to supporting users.

Several activities are involved:

• Software and hardware troubleshooting;
• execution of updates;
• collaboration with the IT team to ensure that the software is properly installed and started on all employees’ computers;
• technical support to customers and end users through various communication channels, from live-chat to hotline;
• Protecting the computer network from cyber attacks by installing antivirus software and taking specific security measures;
• Training to employees in the proper operation of the network.

The work of the network technician may consist of the Creating a network from scratch, and thus in installing equipment and hardware such as servers, routers, cables, adapters, and computers, configuring software, and setting up the entire system (setting passwords, assigning roles, connecting to the network, configuring printers).

Or he can start working for a company as a troubleshooter: network technicians enable a company to maintain its productivity by giving workers access to the network resources they need.

How to become a network technician

To become a network technician, it is advisable to earn a bachelor’s degree in computer science, electrical engineering, or computer engineering, but a computer technician degree is also sufficient. Also very useful are the courses promoted by Cisco, Microsoft and Linux, which are capable of opening up many opportunities in the IT industry nationally and internationally.

The network technician must have:

• Excellent diagnostic, problem solving and analytical skills;
• Good communication skills;
• A perfect understanding of LAN/WAN networks, TCP/IP protocols and networking technologies;
• Hands-on experience with common software and hardware.

In fact, becoming a network technician means working in computer hardware, software, operating systems, and servers. In addition, it is necessary to know what a computer looks like in order to install and troubleshoot microprocessors, chipsets, input/output devices, and memories. Training to become a systems engineer is therefore highly technical, in order to create a specialized figure capable of coping with even complex problems.

The salary of a network technician in Italy is about €29,000 a year. Entry level positions earn around €24,000, senior professionals can go up to €35,000.

Do you want to become a network technician? Then
click here
and find out about the “Introduction to Data Science” course , otherwise if you want to learn more about the most in-demand jobs in IT (and beyond) read our PHYDpedia encyclopedia and find out which emerging professions are the most popular.