r/PinoyNetworkEngineer

Lately i’ve been building in cisco packet and i love configuring or debugging routers, switches, static, vlan etc. i’m currently 2nd year college BSIT student planning to be productive this summer.

i do already have an NC II from tesda CSS Certificate
Will be that enough for intern? If possible any related job to it that will help me gain more knowledge and what projects to build when applying? If possible paid intern

I’ll start - Senior Network Engineer 14 yrs exp with CCNP and Cloud certifications, MNC internal clients - 140k

Can we all benchmark our salaries?

For our goal reference, inspiration, basis for renegotiation or whatever purpose it may serve...

And congrats to all those who are already hitting their targets!

Hello, everyone, I'm a fresh graduate of Electronics Engineering who recently passed the March 2026 ECELE and ECTLE. While interested in getting into the IT field I also wanted to have a decent pay job and at the same time prioritize work life balance and my mental health. Right now I have two job offers.

Offer 1: Global Telecom Vendor via Agency

Role: BFT Engineer (Office-based support for field teams).

Pay: ₱24,000 (Project-based).

The Catch: Prestigious talaga siya sa resume, pero ang catch is 24/7 rotating shifts. Sabi ng mga insiders, "pressure cooker" daw talaga ang environment at super bilis ng pacing.

My Concern: Natatakot ako na baka ma-burnout ako agad in 3 months. Worth it ba yung ₱24k kung kapalit naman nito ay yung biological clock at peace of mind ko?

Offer 2: Office Solutions/IT firm.

Role: Field Service Engineer (Hardware/Network troubleshooting).

Pay: ₱15,000 - ₱17,000 (Path to regularization).

The Catch: Sobrang predictable ng buhay dito. 8 AM – 5 PM lang, no night shifts. Nakasama pa ako sa "shadowing" sa isang veteran engineer nila (20 years na siya doon). At sobrang chill at laid back lang talaga yung nature ng work dahil hindi ganun ka dami yung clients dito.

My Concern: Ramdam ko na may work life balance dito, may weekends, sapat na tulog, at time para maka pursue ng other side quests like mag upskill. Pero ayun nga, medyo mababa ang starting.

In the long run, mas smart move ba na unahin ang Mental Health at WLB (predictable 8-5) para hindi ma-burnout agad, o dapat ko bang i-sacrifice ang sleep at peace of mind ko ngayon para sa mas mataas na salary at "big name" sa resume? 

Thanks sa lahat ng nagbigay ng insights and advice. After reading your comments, I decided na i-pursue muna yung Network Engineer path.

Feeling ko mas magandang foundation siya long term especially if gusto ko eventually mag cloud or DevOps in the future.

For context:

- 24 yrs old

- Around 1 year as IT Helpdesk Engineer

- Currently earning around 40k

I’ll actually be the first Network Engineer for our PH office and ako hahawak ng local infra namin.

Question lang, magkano kaya reasonable na salary increase na pwede ko i-negotiate for this internal move considering malaking increase din siya in responsibility?

Would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks ulit guys 🙏

Share ko lang 'tong pagiging 6 months na MSP, sobrang nakakapagod pero sobrang bilis din ng mga learnings at lawak ng vocabulary na makukuha mo from different clients and IT, and lahat ng products nahawakan ko na. Hope na ma-ROI ko 'rin to after 2 years kasi meh rin ang pasahod HAHAHAHA. Anong magandang tahakin after this? Planning to be a Solutions Architect or Cloud Engr. in the future.