The role of a Telecommunication Engineer, who is also known as a telecoms engineer, is to install, maintain, and repair various types of visual, voice, and data communications servers and networks, such as mobile telephone networks, cable, and satellite systems. This means that they are essentially responsible for the GPS and WiFi systems we use in our everyday lives.
Their responsibilities generally include connecting and examining cables and other machinery and hardware, fixing issues as they come up, installing equipment on buildings and other tall structures, and even designing and building equipment and parts used to install the communication systems themselves. Though it might make sense for these Engineers to work at the highest levels of the IT industry, they actually work at various levels and in various industries.
A person looking to work as a Telecommunication Engineer should generally have excellent maths, science, and engineering skills. A higher education diploma is necessary, whether that means an Associate's degree or a Master's is entirely dependent upon the level and the complexity of the position.
Telecommunication Engineer Overview
Telecommunication Engineer Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a telecommunication engineer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $35.37 an hour? That's $73,571 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 8,000 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Telecommunication Engineer Do
There are certain skills that many telecommunication engineers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed initiative, math skills and speaking skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a telecommunication engineer, we found that a lot of resumes listed 8.6% of telecommunication engineers included hardware, while 8.3% of resumes included voip, and 5.0% of resumes included rf. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the telecommunication engineer job title. But what industry to start with? Most telecommunication engineers actually find jobs in the technology and telecommunication industries.
How To Become a Telecommunication Engineer
If you're interested in becoming a telecommunication engineer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 51.5% of telecommunication engineers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 10.5% of telecommunication engineers have master's degrees. Even though most telecommunication engineers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a telecommunication engineer. When we researched the most common majors for a telecommunication engineer, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on telecommunication engineer resumes include master's degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a telecommunication engineer. In fact, many telecommunication engineer jobs require experience in a role such as telecommunications technician. Meanwhile, many telecommunication engineers also have previous career experience in roles such as network engineer or telecommunications analyst.
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Telecommunication Engineer Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a telecommunication engineer can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as network engineer, progress to a title such as engineer and then eventually end up with the title engineering director.
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Average Salary for a Telecommunication Engineer
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Leidos Holdings Inc. Telecommunications Engineer Telecommunications Engineer | Leidos Holdings Inc. Leidos Holdings Inc. | 01/22/2021 01/22/2021 | $74,50601/22/2021 $74,506 |
Leidos Telecommunications Engineer Telecommunications Engineer | Leidos Leidos | 01/21/2021 01/21/2021 | $74,50601/21/2021 $74,506 |
Randstad Telecommunications Engineer Telecommunications Engineer | Randstad Randstad | 12/28/2020 12/28/2020 | $104,35012/28/2020 $104,350 |
New York State Civil Service Telecommunications Engineer Telecommunications Engineer | New York State Civil Service New York State Civil Service | 12/16/2020 12/16/2020 | $48,20112/16/2020 $48,201 |
State of Connecticut Telecommunications Engineer Hour FE Telecommunications Engineer Hour FE | State of Connecticut State of Connecticut | 12/16/2020 12/16/2020 | $75,61212/16/2020 $75,612 |
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Top Colleges for Telecommunication Engineers
1. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
2. Minnesota State University - Mankato
Mankato, MN • Public
3. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
4. University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA • Public
5. Inter American University of Puerto Rico Bayamon
Bayamon, PR • Private
6. SUNY Polytechnic Institute
Utica, NY • Public
7. Michigan Technological University
Houghton, MI • Public
8. Wentworth Institute of Technology
Boston, MA • Private
9. Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY • Private
10. Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK • Public
Top Skills For a Telecommunication Engineer
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 8.6% of telecommunication engineers listed hardware on their resume, but soft skills such as initiative and math skills are important as well.
- Hardware, 8.6%
- Voip, 8.3%
- RF, 5.0%
- Fiber Optic, 4.7%
- Project Management, 4.6%
- Other Skills, 68.8% See All Telecommunication Engineer Skills
Best States For a Telecommunication Engineer
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a telecommunication engineer. The best states for people in this position are Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Maryland. Telecommunication engineers make the most in Rhode Island with an average salary of $89,401. Whereas in Massachusetts and Hawaii, they would average $88,136 and $87,798, respectively. While telecommunication engineers would only make an average of $86,766 in Maryland, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Massachusetts
$88,136
Avg. Salary
2. Virginia
$82,905
Avg. Salary
3. Maryland
$86,766
Avg. Salary
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