I left about $12,000 on the table at my first network admin job because I didn’t negotiate. The hiring manager offered a number, I said “that sounds great,” and that was it. I spent the next two years watching people with the same title and less experience earn more than me simply because they asked. That experience changed how I approach every salary conversation since, and I want to share what I’ve learned from nearly a decade of doing this work.
The short answer to “should you negotiate?” is yes, almost always. But knowing you should negotiate and knowing how to do it well are very different things. What follows is the practical side of salary negotiation for network engineers, from building your case with real numbers to handling the conversation without making it weird.
What Are Network Engineers Actually Making in 2025?
You can’t negotiate effectively if you don’t know the market. I see too many engineers walk into salary discussions armed with a vague sense that they “should be making more” but no data to back it up. That’s not a negotiation. That’s a hope.
As of 2025, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $95,360 for network and computer systems administrators. But that median hides enormous variation. A network engineer with CCNP Enterprise running multi-site SD-WAN in a metro area is going to command a very different number than someone managing a flat network at a small office in a rural market.
Robert Half’s 2025 salary data puts network engineers in the $85,000 to $135,000 range depending on experience, location, and specialization. Cloud networking and automation skills are pushing the top end of that range higher every year. If you’ve been doing Python scripting alongside your routing and switching work, that’s worth money. Actual money, not just a nice line on your resume.
Before any negotiation, spend time on multiple sources. Check Glassdoor and LinkedIn Salary Insights for the specific company if possible. Look at job postings for similar roles in your area and note what salary ranges they list. Some states now require salary transparency in postings, which has been a gift for anyone trying to figure out their market value. Build a range, not a single number. You’ll need it later.
Building Your Case Before the Conversation
The best negotiation I ever had lasted about ten minutes, and most of the work happened in the weeks before it. I’d kept a running document of things I’d done that quarter: migrated our OSPF deployment from a flat area 0 to a proper multi-area design, automated VLAN provisioning across four sites with Ansible, and resolved a recurring spanning tree loop that had been causing intermittent outages for months. When the conversation came, I didn’t have to remember anything. I just pulled up my list.
Start keeping that list now, even if you’re not planning to negotiate for six months. Write down projects you completed, problems you solved, and anything where you saved the company time or money. Be specific. “Improved network performance” is forgettable. “Redesigned the branch office QoS policy, which eliminated VoIP quality complaints from 200 users” is something a manager can take to their boss to justify your raise.
Certifications matter here too. If you earned your CCNP or picked up a specialty cert since your last salary review, that’s a concrete data point. It shows you’re investing in skills the company benefits from. The job market is shifting toward engineers who can handle automation and cloud alongside traditional networking, and certifications that prove those skills give you leverage in the conversation.
How to Handle the Salary Conversation at a New Job
New job offers are where you have the most leverage, and also where most engineers get nervous and cave. I get it. You want the job. You don’t want to seem greedy or difficult. But companies expect negotiation. Every recruiter I’ve talked to has confirmed this. They almost always have room above the initial offer.
When they give you a number, don’t respond immediately. Thank them, tell them you’re excited about the role, and ask for a day or two to review the full package. This is standard. Nobody reasonable will hold it against you.
Then do your math. Compare the offer to your market research. Factor in the full compensation picture: base salary, bonus structure, health insurance costs, 401(k) match, remote work flexibility, and any on-call expectations. I once took a job that paid $5,000 less in base salary but had a 6% 401(k) match and no on-call rotation. That was a better deal for me. Another time, the “competitive benefits” turned out to be a high-deductible health plan that would have cost me $4,000 more per year out of pocket than my current coverage. The base salary looked higher until it wasn’t.
When you counter, be specific and grounded. Something like: “Based on my research into the market rate for this role in our area, and given my five years of experience managing multi-site networks plus my CCNP Enterprise certification, I was hoping we could get closer to $110,000.” That’s it. No long speeches. No ultimatums. State what you want and why, then stop talking.
The silence after your counter feels uncomfortable. Let it be uncomfortable. The person on the other end is thinking, not judging you.
Negotiating a Raise at Your Current Job
This one’s trickier because you don’t have a competing offer as leverage (and I’d argue you shouldn’t manufacture one, since that can backfire spectacularly). Instead, you’re relying on your track record and your value to the team.
Timing matters. Don’t bring it up right after a major outage you caused, obviously. But also don’t wait for your annual review if your company does those, because by then the budget is usually already set. The best time is right after a visible win, or during a period when the team is short-staffed and your contributions are especially noticeable. If your company just lost a network engineer and you’ve been covering their responsibilities for two months, that’s your moment.
Frame it around your growth, not your grievances. “When I started this role, I was managing a single-site network. I’m now responsible for five branch offices, I’ve taken over the SD-WAN deployment, and I’ve automated our configuration backups. I’d like my compensation to reflect that expanded scope.” That’s a conversation about value, not a complaint about fairness.
If your manager says the budget isn’t there, don’t just accept it and walk away. Ask what it would take to get to the number you want. Ask about a mid-year adjustment. Ask about a one-time bonus, additional PTO, a training budget for certifications, or a remote work arrangement. I got a $3,000 training stipend one year when the salary budget was frozen, and I used it to get my CCNP. That cert later helped me negotiate a $15,000 raise at my next role. Sometimes the indirect path pays off more.
Mistakes That Cost You Money
Sharing your current salary too early is the biggest one. Some states have made it illegal for employers to ask about salary history, but not all. If someone asks, redirect: “I’m targeting $105,000 to $115,000 based on the responsibilities of this role and my experience.” You’re answering with what you want to earn, not what you currently earn. Those are different numbers.
Another mistake is negotiating only on base salary. Total compensation includes a lot of components, and some of them have real dollar value. A company that offers $100,000 with full remote, a 5% match, and paid certifications might be worth more than $115,000 with a mandatory office presence and no training budget. Run the full numbers before deciding what to push for.
Apologizing during the negotiation is something I used to do constantly. “Sorry, I know this is awkward, but…” Stop. You’re not asking for a favor. You’re having a professional conversation about your compensation. If your skills keep the company’s network running for a few hundred users across multiple sites, you’re providing serious value. Act like it.
Skills That Give You the Most Negotiating Power Right Now
If you’re reading this and thinking “I don’t have much to negotiate with,” then the move is to build leverage before your next conversation. The skills commanding premiums in 2025 are automation (Ansible, Python, Terraform for network infrastructure), cloud networking (AWS VPC design, Azure networking), and security integration. Engineers who can configure a Palo Alto firewall policy and write a Python script to audit it are in a different pay bracket than engineers who only do CLI configuration.
SD-WAN experience is still paying well, especially if you’ve worked with Cisco Vistara (formerly Viptela), Fortinet, or VMware VeloCloud. Companies building out new networks from scratch are frequently going SD-WAN first, and they need engineers who’ve done it before.
Even if you’re not switching jobs soon, investing in these skills now means your next salary conversation starts from a stronger position. I spent a few months learning Ansible in my home lab, then used it to automate a real deployment at work. Six months later, I referenced that project in a raise discussion and it was one of the things that moved the number.
The Part Nobody Talks About
Negotiation gets easier every time you do it. The first time I countered an offer, my hands were shaking. The second time, I was just a little nervous. By the fourth or fifth time, it felt like any other professional conversation. The discomfort doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. It means you’re doing something new.
And if a company reacts badly to a reasonable, well-supported negotiation? That tells you something important about how they value their engineers. I’d rather know that before I accept the offer than figure it out six months in when I’m burned out and underpaid. The conversation itself is information, regardless of the outcome.
Start keeping your list of accomplishments this week. Pull up salary data for your role and market. Know your number before anyone asks for it. The difference between engineers who earn what they’re worth and engineers who don’t usually isn’t talent. It’s whether they asked.
Network Professional | CCNA Certified
Ashley Miller is a 35-year-old networking professional with a proven foundation in Cisco technologies. She is CCNA certified and currently advancing her expertise by working toward the Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) certification. With a passion for designing and maintaining efficient, secure network infrastructures, Ashley brings both technical skill and real-world experience to every project.
