How To Become A Telephone Lineman: What It Is and Career Path

What is a telephone lineman and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a telephone lineman. For example, did you know that they make an average of $33.12 an hour? That's $68,895 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 13,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreTelephone LinemanUS Average

Salary

5.4

Avg. Salary $68,895

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.2

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.76%

Asian 4.23%

Black or African American 9.07%

Hispanic or Latino 17.97%

Unknown 5.63%

White 62.34%

Gender

female 4.00%

male 96.00%

Age - 45

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 - 45

Stress level

7.2

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.9

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a telephone lineman

Explore telephone lineman education requirements

Most common telephone lineman degrees

High School Diploma

53.6 %

Associate

25.0 %

Bachelor's

14.3 %

Start to develop specific telephone lineman skills

Skills	Percentages
Augers	100.00%

Complete relevant telephone lineman training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New telephone linemen 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 telephone lineman based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real telephone lineman resumes.

Research telephone lineman duties and responsibilities

Participate in the construction or removal of telecommunication towers or associate support structures.
Obtain multiple certifications for various machines.

Prepare your telephone lineman resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your telephone lineman 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 telephone lineman resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable telephone lineman resume templates

Build a professional telephone lineman resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your telephone lineman resume.