How To Become A Communications Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a communications engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Libby Toping

Communications engineers are responsible for the research, design, development, and production of communications equipment and systems. They are involved in all aspects of service delivery from carrying out feasibility exercises to determining connectivity and signal access to preparing detailed, technical, and operational reports.

Some of the duties include designing, developing, installing, and testing system equipment and implementing procedures to make all components operational. As a result of an ever-increasing demand for broadband service, more professionals within this field work with internet technology. The field of electrical engineering strongly focuses on communications technology; consequently, electrical engineering certificate and degree programs are more common than programs devoted specifically to communications engineering. A bachelor's or master's degree gives a job seeker an advantage over a certificate alone.

The average hourly salary for the position is $36.54, which equates to $76,012 annually. The career is expected to grow in the near future and create new opportunities all across the United States.

What general advice would you give to a communications engineer?

Libby Toping

Engineer intern, Crafton Tull

It has definitely been a unique time to start my first job. COVID-19 has caused many of my peers to struggle to find a job, so I think it has caused me to recognize how thankful I am to have a job that I enjoy working and that allows me to improve my community, even in the midst of a pandemic. There are certainly struggles with virtual meetings and mask-wearing, but learning to be flexible and adaptable are skills that I think will make me a better engineer in the long run!

ScoreCommunications EngineerUS Average

Salary

6.5

Avg. Salary $83,540

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.18%

Asian 14.36%

Black or African American 4.88%

Hispanic or Latino 11.38%

Unknown 4.72%

White 64.48%

Gender

female 11.27%

male 88.73%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.2

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a communications engineer

Explore communications engineer education requirements

Most common communications engineer degrees

Bachelor's

64.1 %

Associate

17.2 %

Master's

11.4 %

Start to develop specific communications engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
RF	6.73%
Unified Communications	6.20%
Unity	5.56%
Troubleshoot	5.52%
VoIP	4.94%

Complete relevant communications engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New communications engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a communications engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real communications engineer resumes.

Research communications engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage project to migrate over to the new manage firewall system.
Manage Internet connectivity using redundant Cisco routers and manage Nokia firewalls.
Manage multiple construction and service provisioning projects within several service centers in south-east Michigan.
Manage Jenkins security by providing specific access to authorize developers/testers using project base matrix authorization strategy.

Get communications engineer experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a communications engineer. The most common roles before becoming a communications engineer include network engineer, systems engineer team lead and engineer.

Prepare your communications engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your communications engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a communications engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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