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

What is a senior telecom engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Professor David Sanford

Senior telecom engineers are in charge of all of a company's telecommunications, from planning infrastructure to installing fixtures. They work with internal telephone networks, LAN networks, and other technologies. Senior telecom engineers need to have experience with systems such as Avaya and VoIP. They are infrastructure experts and know about installing and troubleshooting wires, Internet circuits, and more. In addition to their technical know-how, senior telecom engineers are great leaders who know how to motivate their teams and manage the logistics of a project. They're usually in charge of a whole team of telecom engineers.

There are several paths to becoming a senior telecom engineer. Some get bachelor's or master's degrees in engineering. Others only have an associate's degree but show their skill through their practical experience. All of them need extensive experience as telecommunications or network engineers.

The years of hard work needed to earn a senior position certainly pay off. Senior telecom engineers earn on average $98,164 a year.

What general advice would you give to a senior telecom engineer?

Professor David Sanford

Associate Professor an Department Chair (MIS, CS, CYB MGT, IS CYB), Northwood University

Workers like that they are challenged to solve problems and lead technological innovations.
They appreciate the diversity of projects
They enjoy the need for continuous improvement and education
Many see the global impact of their work.
They also desire and appreciate the need for versatile skills
A competitive salary is also an item that employees like

Workers dislike that the work can be stressful
Dealing with tight deadlines and/ or cybersecurity concerns.
This is a positive and a negative: The need to constantly stay up to date with technology can be a bit overwhelming for some.
There may be times of isolation, and
The unexpected system failures can be frustrating as they often require extra hours or the need to be on-call.
The multiple responsibilities and managing repetitive tasks are also issues workers point out in this field.

In short, the workplace offers exciting opportunities but comes with its fair share of pressures and challenges. Different people have different experiences based on their roles and personal preferences.

ScoreSenior Telecom EngineerUS Average

Salary

6.5

Avg. Salary $82,846

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 10.37%

Black or African American 8.79%

Hispanic or Latino 12.48%

Unknown 5.08%

White 62.97%

Gender

female 13.77%

male 86.23%

Age - 42

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 - 42

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior telecom engineer

Explore senior telecom engineer education requirements

Most common senior telecom engineer degrees

Bachelor's

57.5 %

Associate

20.4 %

Master's

13.2 %

Start to develop specific senior telecom engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Infrastructure	10.98%
Avaya	9.24%
IP	7.45%
Project Management	6.58%
VoIP	6.26%

Complete relevant senior telecom engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior telecom 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 senior telecom engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior telecom engineer resumes.

Research senior telecom engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage vendor relationships pertinent to the telephony systems and serving as primary contact.
Team in the installation of CMS R16.1.
Monitor and installation of circuits, voicemail systems, switches.
Perform monthly CMS backups and upgrade circuit pack firmware as needed.

Get senior telecom engineer experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a senior telecom engineer. The most common roles before becoming a senior telecom engineer include telecom engineer, engineer team lead and network engineer.

Prepare your senior telecom engineer resume

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

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