15 Essential Network Engineer Interview Questions for 2025

Hiring the right network engineer can mean the difference between smooth operations and hours of costly downtime. In 2025, this role has grown more complex than ever — network engineers aren’t just maintaining routers and firewalls anymore. They’re doing a lot of vital legwork: managing cloud integrations, securing hybrid infrastructures, and ensuring uptime across increasingly distributed environments.

As a hiring manager, asking the right interview questions is non-negotiable for identifying both the technical expertise and the interpersonal skills required for success in this constantly evolving field. This guide breaks down 15 essential network engineer interview questions, along with expert insights into what to look for in candidates.

15 NETWORK ENGINEER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS — AND WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Whether you're building out a brand new IT team or hiring a senior engineer to lead the charge, this list of interview questions for network engineer​s is designed to surface top talent who are both capable in the field and culturally aligned to your enterprise.

1. Can you walk me through the OSI model and how you’ve applied it when troubleshooting real-world issues?

Why ask it? Understanding the OSI model isn’t just academic — it’s foundational to troubleshooting.

What to look for: Candidates should move beyond textbook definitions and share practical, real-world examples. Bonus points if they describe how isolating issues at specific layers helped solve a critical outage.

2. What’s your approach to securing a corporate network, especially with remote or hybrid teams?

Why ask it? Security is never optional, and remote work has only made things more complex.

What to look for: Look for answers that reference a deep understanding of firewalls, VPNs, zero-trust architecture, MFA, and regular audits. Top candidates will also discuss end-user training and policies.

3. How do you stay current with evolving network technologies?

Why ask it? The right hire should be curious, adaptive, and engaged with industry trends.

What to look for: Candidates should mention certifications (like CCNA, CCNP), online communities, training platforms (Pluralsight, Udemy), and reading blogs or attending webinars.

4. Describe a time you resolved a complex routing issue. What steps did you take?

Why ask it? This reveals a candidate’s process under pressure.

What to look for: Listen for methodical approaches like checking configurations, analyzing logs, consulting documentation, and validating solutions without creating new problems.

5. If latency increases on a mission-critical connection, how do you troubleshoot it?

Why ask it? Troubleshooting is a core responsibility. This situational interview question for network engineers reveals depth of knowledge and calm under pressure.

What to look for: Candidates should talk through using ping tests, traceroutes, packet loss analysis, and monitoring tools to isolate the issue.

6. How would you approach designing a redundant, scalable network architecture for a growing company?

Why ask it? This assesses big-picture thinking and future planning.

What to look for: Strong answers will reference redundant links, failover systems, load balancing, and modular designs that can grow with the company.

7. Tell me about a time you had to explain a technical network issue to a non-technical stakeholder.

Why ask it? Communication is critical, especially across departments.

What to look for: Look for empathy, clarity, and the ability to adjust their language for the audience.

8. How do you prioritize tasks when multiple systems fail at once?

Why ask it? Emergencies happen. You need someone who can think critically and stay calm.

What to look for: They should communicate clear prioritization based on business impact and dependencies. Great answers may reference incident response protocols.

9. What’s your leadership style when mentoring junior engineers?

Why ask it? If you’re looking for leadership roles, it’s a must-ask on your list of senior network engineer interview questions​ because they’ll likely manage or guide others. 

What to look for: Watch for signs of collaborative, supportive leaders who encourage growth and knowledge sharing.

10. How do you evaluate new networking tools or platforms before adopting them?

Why ask it? Tech changes fast, and smart evaluation is key.

What to look for: They should describe research, testing in sandbox environments, vendor comparisons, and stakeholder input.

11. Describe your experience with SD-WAN, zero trust, or hybrid cloud networking.

Why ask it? These technologies are increasingly critical.

What to look for: You want real-world use — not just buzzwords. They should discuss implementation challenges and how they overcame them.

12. What KPIs or metrics do you track for network performance?

Why ask it? Data-driven decision-making is key.

What to look for: Uptime, latency, throughput, packet loss, and SLA compliance should be mentioned, along with the tools used to monitor them.

13. What kind of team culture brings out your best performance?

Why ask it? You’re hiring for fit — not just great network engineer skills.

What to look for: Their answer should align with your company’s culture. Look for self-awareness and honesty. Learn more about how personality hires can elevate your team.

14. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your IT career so far?

Why ask it? This helps you gauge humility, growth, and resilience.

What to look for: Candidates should reflect on mistakes or challenges and describe how they’ve grown from them.

15. How do you handle conflicting priorities between IT and other departments (like sales or finance)?

Why ask it? Network engineers often work cross-functionally.

What to look for: You want a candidate who values collaboration and understands business goals, not someone who sees IT as an isolated function.

Bonus: CEO-Approved Interview Questions for Broader IT Roles

If you’re interviewing across roles, not just network engineers, it's essential to prepare for questions that focus not only on technical skills but also on cultural fit and leadership potential. Remember, CEOs often ask questions that assess how well candidates handle complex situations, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and align with company values.

HIRING TOP NETWORK ENGINEERS WITH INTERVIEW QUESTIONS THAT MATTER

Finding technically skilled, reliable, and team-aligned engineers is no easy feat, even with the perfect network engineer interview questions. Between increased remote work, growing cyber threats, and the adoption of edge and cloud computing, your network engineer needs to be more versatile than ever. Technical certifications are important—but so are soft skills, cultural fit, and business acumen. 

Need help hiring top network engineers with the skills your company is looking for? At TSP, we believe great interviews start with a deeper understanding of what your team truly needs. That’s why we offer interview outsourcing that’s aligned with your company’s goals and values. 

If you’re ready to skip the guesswork and hire smarter, we’re here to help! Explore our IT recruitment solutions today.