Network Architect Interview questions

Are you looking for job as a network design engineer? Or are you thinking to leave your current position for a new job as a network designer with a new company?

If you answered yes to either of those questions, then this article is for you and any of the described technologies and questions may be asked during the interview!

CCNP Training – Resources (Intense)

Network design engineer is a higher-level position; the major responsibility of a network design engineer is to design both the hardware and software technologies needed for a company’s network setup. A network designer examines vendor-agnostic network design principles and is often responsible for designing all of the network infrastructure, including routing, switching, security, LAN, WAN, VoIP, wireless, optimization, load balancing, etc. If you are more interested in network design and architecture, then don’t walk away from the equipment, open up your brain to new approaches building networks.

The scope of network designing is enormous (going through almost all networking specialization).

A network design engineer must have the knowledge of the following technologies:

• Layer 2 control plane
• Layer 3 control plane
• VoIP, security, wireless network architecture
• Network virtualization
• Design considerations
• Analyze design requirements
• Develop and Implement network designs
• Validate and optimize network design

I have read somewhere “there are those who design networks…. very large networks who may not do one ounce of actual installation or implementation of the network.”

Yes, it is possible that a person who has never worked on network technologies or seen even a router or switch can be a network designer. Equally, there are people who lay cables and configure routers and switches all day. In the middle ground are the amateur designers who will throw a solution together based on nothing but experience and reality, so it depends where you want to be as a network engineer.

The network designer in general focuses on the “Why“, where the network engineer (implementation) focuses on “How.” Designing track gives you concepts and processes that will enable you to better plan and lay out a network. It also gives you concepts such as the design lifecycle, network lifecycle, etc. It attempts to teach you different methodologies to sort through design problems and how to tackle them.

Also, the network designer has very broad technical knowledge where he/she needs strong logical and technological points of view because he/she needs to design with wireless, voice, and security in mind and not just routing and switching.

My Best Questions for an Interview of Network Design Engineer

All of the questions below are very common and must be prepared for before facing any interview for the network designing environment.

Q: What is your experience as a network design engineer?

A: You can answer with your wealth of network experience and job responsibilities and don’t forget to share your achievements as a network design engineer. You can also mention your involvement in complex LAN, WLAN, and IPT infrastructure solutions and large-scale projects in unique environments with collaboratively working within a team.

Basically, a network design engineer works with project teams, takes information and/or project specifications from customers and turns it into a completed design definition which meets the agreed specification, with due consideration to factors such as security and operational support including routing, switching, security, LAN, WAN, VoIP, wireless, optimization, load balancing, etc.

Q: What decisions/suggestions you have made as network design engineer?

A: Here you can provide the information on major suggestions/decisions taken by you on network/device migration and up-grading from your previous experience. You can also share your involvement in project review meetings and regular representation of the network services with your team, and how it helped your team to achieve organizational goals of network services.

Answer the question with all of positive decisions/suggestion taken by you and don’t try to explore decisions that were wrong in term of technical or any misfit technology but this doesn’t mean that you will not share your creativity and solution development skills.

Q: Describe the set of required skills for a network design engineer?

A: Answer this question with the description of required key skills for a network engineer as listed below;

• Layer 2 control plane
• Layer 3 control plane
• VoIP, security, wireless network architecture
• Network virtualization
• Design considerations
• Analyze design requirements

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