Computer Networking

 

Career and Major Information
Earnings
Related Occupations
Related Web Sites

 

Career Description and Job Tasks:

Walters State's two-year concentration in Computer Networking is designed to prepare successful graduates for entry-level employment opportunities as computer networking specialists. The primary responsibility in this job is the planning, design, implementation, and maintenance of different sized networks that may include local, internal computers or machines on a network that spans the entire globe, such as local area networks (LANS), wide area networks (WANS), the Internet, intranets, and other data communications systems.  Other duties may include testing and debugging networks and systems, solving computer problems, or introducing new technology including both hardware and software to meet the individual needs of an organization.  They must work closely with managers and user level workers to determine the specific needs and parameters of their particular network.  In some smaller organizations, they will also serve as systems analyst and programmer.  Because they are responsible for both networking and programming and system analysis, these workers must be proficient in both areas.

Jobs may be found in organizations such as banks, hospitals, large retailers, research firms, manufacturers, banks, data processing organizations, government agencies, and insurance companies.

The minimum educational requirement depends largely on the needs of the employer.  There is no universal path to qualification.  Some jobs in the field will only require an associate degree or technical training, but others will require a minimum of a bachelor degree.  The more complex, specialized positions require someone with doctoral training.  As the technology becomes increasingly complex, employers will favor candidates with more formalized and specialized training that fits the needs of the position to be filled.  Much faster than average growth is expected through the year 2012 as more and more organizations adopt sophisticated technology to service their needs.  Competition for jobs will be keen, but the high number of new jobs makes prospects for employment favorable.

 

Earnings:

The Tennessee Career Information Delivery System website lists the salary range for a beginning-level position in this field in Tennessee as $33,900 to $41,400 annually.  With experience, the range increases to $43,760 to $82,060.  The national average is higher by up to $6,000 per year.  Salary figures quoted are based on national figures. Local or regional salaries may be lower.

 

Related Occupations:

Computer Software Engineer

Computer Programmer

Systems Analyst

Computer and Information Systems Manager

Financial Analysts and Personal Financial Advisor

Urban and Regional Planner

Engineer

Mathematician

Statistician

Operations Research Analyst

Management Analyst

Actuary

 

Related Web Sites

Association for Computing Machinery

            http://www.acm.org

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society

            http://www.computer.org

National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies

            http://www.nwcet.org

 

Much of the above information was collected from the 2004-2005 Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the U.S. Department of Labor.  For additional information on these and many other careers, please visit the following web sites:

 

Occupational Outlook Handbook - U.S. Department of Labor

www.bls.gov/oco/

 

Tennessee Career Information Delivery System (TCIDS)

http://tcids.tbr.edu/.

 

 

For information regarding specific degree program requirements, curriculum, or faculty, please see the department website at http://www.ws.edu/teched/default.asp.