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The differences between communications engineers and telecom engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a communications engineer and a telecom engineer. Additionally, a communications engineer has an average salary of $83,540, which is higher than the $81,384 average annual salary of a telecom engineer.
The top three skills for a communications engineer include RF, unified communications and unity. The most important skills for a telecom engineer are voip, telephony, and telecommunication.
| Communications Engineer | Telecom Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $83,540 | $81,384 |
| Hourly rate | $40.16 | $39.13 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 71,942 | 33,530 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
The duties of a communications engineer depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. Their responsibilities typically revolve around designing and developing new systems to optimize operations, performing research and assessments to identify company needs, determining the strengths and weaknesses of existing systems, and providing solutions on issues and concerns. Furthermore, as a communications engineer, it is essential to perform regular maintenance checks to ensure a safe and productive work environment, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Telecom engineers are engineering experts who design and install telecommunication equipment to ensure the transmission of high-quality data over wired or wireless communication. Due to their in-depth understanding of emerging technologies, these engineers are required to create solution designs such as drawings and design documents as well as offer guidance to reduce complexity and costs. They must identify and resolve any issues related to fiber optics and copper cables while setting up system monitoring to reduce equipment failure and incident response time. Telecom engineers are also required to operate and improve the telephony systems.
Communications engineers and telecom engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Communications Engineer | Telecom Engineer | |
| Average salary | $83,540 | $81,384 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $111,000 | Between $63,000 And $104,000 |
| Highest paying City | Palo Alto, CA | Hayward, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Shearman & Sterling | PayPal |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a communications engineer and a telecom engineer in terms of educational background:
| Communications Engineer | Telecom Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Northeastern University |
Here are the differences between communications engineers' and telecom engineers' demographics:
| Communications Engineer | Telecom Engineer | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.7% Female, 11.3% | Male, 86.2% Female, 13.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.4% Asian, 14.4% White, 64.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.3% Asian, 14.6% White, 64.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |