How to hire a telecommunication engineer

How to hire a telecommunication engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step telecommunication engineer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a telecommunication engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new telecommunication engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a telecommunication engineer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The telecommunication engineer hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A telecommunication engineer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, telecommunication engineers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list presents telecommunication engineer salaries for various positions.

   Type of Telecommunication Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Telecommunication Engineer	Electrical engineers design, develop, test, and supervise the manufacturing of electrical equipment, such as electric motors, radar and navigation systems, communications systems, and power generation equipment. Electronics engineers design and develop electronic equipment, such as broadcast and communications systems—from portable music players to global positioning systems (GPSs).	$28-52
   Controls Designer	Controls designers both design and draft systems of hydraulic, pneumatic, and electrical controls for equipment and machines. The designers make diagrams of the logic system for timing and sequence control... Show more	$33-58
   Engineering Trainee	An engineering trainee is responsible for shadowing engineers in their duties and performing administrative tasks as needed. Engineering trainees assist the engineers in inspecting construction sites and conducting field research... Show more	$20-39

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Telecommunication
   • VoIP
   • RF
   • Switches
   • Fiber Optic
   • Project Management
   • Telephone Systems
   • Technical Support
   • Telecommunications Systems
   • Windows
   • Video Conferencing
   • Unified Communications
   • Ethernet
   • Unity

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage, administer UCCE / PCCE contact center environment.
   • Manage main distribution frame (mdf) and record keeping.
   • Manage video conferencing technologies such as Telepresence, and video support in WebEx.
   • Manage services providers and vendors including contract negotiations, billing and SLA management.
   • Manage a Nortel 81C PBX for a large international corporation with offices in Indianapolis.
   • Manage the relocation of the San Francisco office, including the scheduling and timing of PBX and voice mail vendors.

   More telecommunication engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your telecommunication engineer job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A telecommunication engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a telecommunication engineer in Kentucky may be lower than in Rhode Island, and an entry-level telecommunication engineer usually earns less than a senior-level telecommunication engineer. Additionally, a telecommunication engineer with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average telecommunication engineer salary

   $80,789yearly

   $38.84 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level telecommunication engineer salary

   $59,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

   Average telecommunication engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	District of Columbia	$100,675	$48
   2	California	$100,375	$48
   3	Washington	$97,224	$47
   4	Massachusetts	$96,380	$46
   5	Virginia	$93,240	$45
   6	Nevada	$93,080	$45
   7	Texas	$85,927	$41
   8	Pennsylvania	$84,478	$41
   9	Arizona	$83,834	$40
   10	Alabama	$80,476	$39
   11	Colorado	$80,121	$39
   12	Oregon	$78,149	$38
   13	Oklahoma	$77,748	$37
   14	Indiana	$77,712	$37
   15	Illinois	$75,692	$36
   16	New York	$74,134	$36
   17	Utah	$73,651	$35
   18	Georgia	$72,873	$35
   19	Mississippi	$71,096	$34
   20	Tennessee	$68,382	$33

   Average telecommunication engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Apple	$131,663	$63.30	88
   2	Pacifi	$109,440	$52.62	12
   3	NRG Energy	$103,789	$49.90
   4	Grainger	$102,960	$49.50	1
   5	Grant PUD	$99,153	$47.67
   6	Burns & McDonnell	$98,922	$47.56	20
   7	NV Energy	$98,746	$47.47
   8	Telecom	$96,957	$46.61	2
   9	CHKD Thrift Store	$93,845	$45.12
   10	Avnet	$93,024	$44.72
   11	K12	$92,819	$44.62
   12	Dell	$92,196	$44.33
   13	California Institute of Technology	$91,618	$44.05
   14	DOCOMO PACIFIC	$90,201	$43.37
   15	Eversource Energy	$89,109	$42.84	22
   16	Cedars-Sinai	$88,452	$42.52	1
   17	Sargent & Lundy	$87,946	$42.28	25
   18	Cox Communications	$87,357	$42.00
   19	Children's Minnesota	$87,239	$41.94
   20	Booz Allen Hamilton	$86,657	$41.66	38

4. Writing a telecommunication engineer job description

   A good telecommunication engineer job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a telecommunication engineer job description:

   Telecommunication engineer job description example

   Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, an affiliate of Mass General Brigham, is committed to supporting patient care, research, teaching, and service to the community.We place great value on being a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization as we aim to reflect the diversity of the patients we serve. At Mass General Brigham, we believe in equal access to quality care, employment and advancement opportunities encompassing the full spectrum of human diversity: race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, religion, ethnicity, national origin and all the other forms of human presence and expression that make us better able to provide innovative and cutting-edge healthcare and research.
   
   Wentworth-Douglass Hospital remains among the nation's top hospitals for patient experience as a recipient of the Healthgrades 2021 Outstanding Patient Experience Award for the eighth consecutive year. Wentworth-Douglass Hospital is renowned as one of the largest acute care hospitals in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire and Southern Maine. At Wentworth-Douglass, we value people who contribute to patient-centered care that enhances community health; we recognize and reward those who share our values and transform our patients' lives. We invite you to explore opportunities, cultivate community wellness and professional growth.
   
   Under the direct supervision of the Network Operations Supervisor, and the general direction of the Director of Technology and Project Management, this role is responsible for designing, implementing, and supporting WDH's telecommunications systems ensuring continuity, disaster recovery, and high availability of systems. Provides guidance and establishes safe and consistent best practice for projects and daily Telecommunications functions. Works closely with the Telecommunications Team to provide clear communication for all parties concerned. Documents systems and procedures and maintains knowledgebase records. Improves efficiency without compromising safety or satisfaction to the stakeholder or the end-users. Assists, and may lead,in the Development of RFPs and the vendor selection process to determine vendors for cabling and telecommunications systems. Identifies areas for improvement determined by organizational and end-user needs.
   ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
   
   Designs, implements, maintains, and enhances telecommunications systems and cabling infrastructure for the Enterprise. Work with customers and key stakeholders to determine system requirements and design systems accordingly.
   score: N/A
   Design business continuity and disaster recovery plans for Telecommunications systems. Develop score: N/ARFPs and guide the vendor selection process to determine vendors for cabling and telecommunications systems. score: N/A
   
   2. Anticipates and plans telecommunications improvements to meet the needs of the enterprise and works closely with IS leadership to develop budgets.
   Monitors system capacity and performance to projects future needs. score: N/A
   Develops and implements equipment refresh plans and site upgrades.
   score: N/A
   Works closely with the Telecommunications Team, Network Operations Supervisor, and IS PMO staff todevelop annual operational and capital improvement budgets.
   3. Leads others on the telecommunications team and those performing telecommunications support functions to meet organizational objectives.
   Mentor and support more junior staff in learning the technologies, best practices, and procedures in order to effectively and efficiently support WDH's telecommunications systems. score: N/A
   May provide performance feedback to the Network Operations Supervisor for telecommunications staff evaluations
   score: N/A
   Lead small, and cross functional, project teams to implement telecommunications systems.
   
   Qualifications
   Experience Minimum Required Minimum of 5 years with enterprise telecommunications systems. Design, installation, maintenance, and optimization of enterprise class telecommunications systems. Hands on experience integrating disparate phone systems in a heterogeneous environment. Experience leading small work teams Experience managing vendor relationships. 5 years experience in Information Technology. Experience Preferred/Desired Minimum plus experience with Avaya PBX Cisco Call Manager and VoIP systems. Experience with physician answering service and paging systems. Experience managing switched networks 2-3 years Project Management experience Education Minimum Required AS A combination of formal education and experience Education Preferred/Desired AS Computer Science, Telecommunications, or related field Training Preferred/Desired Vendor training on Avaya PBX or equivalent Vendor training on Cisco VoIP systems Licensure and/or Certifications Preferred/Desired Certification on Avaya PBX Certification on Cisco VoIP BICSI certification
   
   EEO Statement
   Wentworth-Douglass Hospital is an Equal Opportunity Employer.By embracing diverse skills, perspectives and ideas, we choose to lead. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, age, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, military service, genetic information, and/or other status protected under law. We will ensure that all individuals with a disability are provided a reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find telecommunication engineers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your telecommunication engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit telecommunication engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting telecommunication engineers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new telecommunication engineer

   Once you've found the telecommunication engineer candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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