What a network architect really does
You design the networks an organization runs on, plan for the day they fail, and convince leadership to pay for it.
FieldTech and design
Preparation (O*NET Job Zone)Considerable preparation needed
What the work involves
What fills a typical week for network architects, built from O*NET occupation data.
- Review network performance reports and decide where capacity needs to grow.
- Draw logical and physical designs for new sites, segments and connections.
- Plan for failure: disaster recovery plans, backup links and what happens when equipment dies.
- Recommend security measures such as firewall placement and network segmentation.
- Write detailed specifications and equipment lists, and work with vendors on products and pricing.
- Plan equipment replacement budgets and coordinate upgrades with the engineers who install them.
- Present designs and proposals to managers and explain them to engineers.
What the days are like
What people in the job know
- Disaster recovery planning is rated the most important task in the job, above day to day design work. Top task: 'Develop disaster recovery plans', importance 86, Core, rank 1 (O*NET Tasks)
- Pressure is project paced: big deadlines come monthly rather than daily, but weeks run long. Time pressure: 55% once a month or more but not every week; Duration of typical work week: 60% more than 40 hours (O*NET Work Context)
- You present and defend your designs regularly. Public speaking: 40% once a month or more but not every week (O*NET Work Context)
- When the network goes down people are unhappy, and some of that lands on you. Deal with unpleasant, angry, or discourteous people: 50% once a month or more but not every week (O*NET Work Context)
- Design mistakes are expensive and hard to undo. Consequence of error: 30% extremely serious; Importance of being exact or accurate: 40% extremely important, 40% very important (O*NET Work Context)
How people get into it
Job Zone 4. In O*NET's survey 55% say a bachelor's degree is required, with 15% each naming a post secondary certificate or an associate's degree. Architects nearly always come up through years of network administration or engineering work before designing networks themselves.
The Firstday trial, easy to hard
Three simulated tasks at Tallgrass Community College, a fictional company, with AI coworkers who message you, react to your work and coach with questions. Nobody scores you.
What the trial can't show: The trial does not let you configure real routers, switches or firewalls, visit wiring closets, or watch a design run under real traffic. Diagrams are drawn on a simple canvas, not in professional network CAD tools, and costs are illustrative. It also cannot show the months long pace of real design projects and vendor negotiations.
Reading about it is one thing.
Find out how the work feels to you before you spend on a degree, course or job change. Your first trial is free.
Other careers you can try
Job details on this page are built from O*NET OnLine, 15-1241.00. This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.