Se Roles

Systems Engineer Career

James A. Lagermann

GEN 300 Skills for Professional Development

Curt Crandall

27 February 2006

Systems Engineer

The title of Systems Engineer is very widely used and until about 10 years ago, it was only used by individuals with degrees in the engineering field. Today it is used in the Information Technology space to identify individuals who play a technical role in the design, implementation or support of network and or server operations. The title of Systems Engineer is no longer associated with college degrees; it is associated with industry knowledge.

The knowledge of an entry level Systems Engineer starts out generalized and at a high level and the responsibilities are also very broad. An entry level SE generally starts at a small end user company that can't afford to hire specialized senior engineers. Their responsibilities usually include the design, implementation and support of the network, server and client systems. When the situation arises that the SE can not handle the task at hand, the company will hire a consultant who is a more senior Systems Engineer to fill in the gap. In situation like this, a good SE will also function as the liaison between their company and the consultant and try to learn as much as he can from the consultant.

As the knowledge and experience of the SE grows and becomes more detailed and specialized; the responsibilities also become more detailed and focused. The SE's responsibilities will most often begin to focus in an area they enjoy. Most SE's will choose to focus in the area of network systems or server systems and leave the client systems to the entry level staff. Working with client systems generally means working with users who need help with the most basic tasks and does not leave time to improve your knowledge in more complicated and enjoyable areas of the industry.

The next rung in the SE career ladder is to work for a mid-sized or larger end user company. The responsibilities of an SE at a mid-sized to large end user company are more specialized. The SE will generally be in the Network Group, Servers Group or NOC (Network Operation Center)/Help Desk Group. The SE's in the NOC are generally entry level or have little experience and the SE's in the server and network groups are typically more advanced with many years of experience. Often times the network and server SE's will handle both the design and the implementation of their products but they will only get involved with support issues when they are very complicated. They would only handle support escalations.

The responsibilities of an SE at a mid-sized to large reseller are very similar to the very large end user companies. Some of the larger end user companies in the St. Louis area have their Systems Engineers divided into Design Teams, Implementation Team and NOC Teams. More than two of the companies that I work with even have design teams that only look at solutions that are three to five years down the road; they call them their Future Network Design Teams. Likewise, large resellers divide their Systems Engineers into three main groups, Inside Sales, Outside/Field Sales and TAC (Technical Assistance Center). Within those three groups they are divided into network and server groups. Some specialized resellers that focus on a vertical like Security or Load Balancing will further divide their SE's with Security and Layer 4-7 Groups.

The next logical step in the career of an SE is to work for a manufacture. A manufacturer SE must have high technical, interpersonal and team work skills to be successful. The responsibility of an SE that works for a manufacturer is very similar to that of a large reseller in that they are divided into TAC, Inside Sales and Outside/Field Sales groups. This SE must be an expert in one or more of that manufactures products with solid understanding of all of the manufacturer products. If they are on the Field Sales team, in addition to being a technical expert, they must also have highly developed interpersonal skills.

In a Field Sales Team at a manufacturer or reseller, the terms Sales Engineer and Systems Engineer are used interchangeably. The ultimate responsibility of a Field SE is to sell products and they are often referred to as Technical Sales Engineers. Because of this, a Field Sales SE is perceived to be much more valuable to a company than a TAC or NOC SE. While this is not always the case, the highest paying positions in the industry are the revenue generating positions like the Field SE at a manufacturer, typically $80,000 to $250,000 per year with or without a degree. The lowest paying positions in the industry are the non-revenue generating positions like the SE at a small end user company, typically $20,000 to $35,000 per year with or without a degree.

Moving up the career path as a Systems Engineer is not always as easy as just learning about more technology and growing personally. Most often, a company change is required to move between roles or get a raise as a Systems Engineer. If you are a fast learner you might think you should also be promoted just as quickly. But changing companies too often can also hurt your career. Five years experience still takes five years to get no matter how fast you learn. Employers don't want SE's who will just work for them to learn or improve a new skill and then leave for more money. So when you are considering a potential employer, you should also consider your career path with that company. Do they have room for you to grow as a SE? If you start out at the help desk as an entry level SE, can you move to the implementation group or the design group as your skills and experience grows? Does this employer support you continuing your technology education? Do they have a budget for SE training?

The Information Technology industry changes rapidly and in order to be successful in this field you have to be able to learn new technologies at a quick pace. Systems Engineers will have to continue to increase their industry knowledge through self education, peer education or taking