Telecommunications Engineering Specialists
Arts, Audio/Video Technology and CommunicationsO*NET 15-1241.01United States
Design or configure wired, wireless, and satellite communications systems for voice, video, and data services. Supervise installation, service, and maintenance.
- Median annual earnings
- $133,490
- Projected change
- +14.4%
- Typical education
- Bachelor's degree
- Employment
- 185.03K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
33.3% of the workforce
Growing to 211.64K by 2035
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The work
What telecommunications engineering specialists do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Consult with users, administrators, and engineers to identify business and technical requirements for proposed system modifications or technology purchases.
- Implement system renovation projects in collaboration with technical staff, engineering consultants, installers, and vendors.
- Keep abreast of changes in industry practices and emerging telecommunications technology by reviewing current literature, talking with colleagues, participating in educational programs, attending meetings or workshops, or participating in professional organizations or conferences.
- Review and evaluate requests from engineers, managers, and technicians for system modifications.
- Assess existing facilities' needs for new or modified telecommunications systems.
- Develop, maintain, or implement telecommunications disaster recovery plans to ensure business continuity.
- Communicate with telecommunications vendors to obtain pricing and technical specifications for available hardware, software, or services.
- Inspect sites to determine physical configuration, such as device locations and conduit pathways.
- Document procedures for hardware and software installation and use.
- Install, or coordinate installation of, new or modified hardware, software, or programming modules of telecommunications systems.
- Instruct in use of voice, video, and data communications systems.
- Implement or perform preventive maintenance, backup, or recovery procedures.
- Prepare purchase requisitions for computer hardware and software, networking and telecommunications equipment, test equipment, cabling, or tools.
- Provide user support by diagnosing network and device problems and implementing technical or procedural solutions.
- Document user support activity, such as system problems, corrective actions, resolution status, and completed equipment installations.
- Document technical specifications and operating standards for telecommunications equipment.
- Estimate costs for system or component implementation and operation.
- Order or maintain inventory of telecommunications equipment for customer premises equipment (CPE), facilities, access networks, or backbone networks.
- Work with personnel and facilities management staff to install, remove, or relocate user connectivity equipment and devices.
- Use computer-aided design (CAD) software to prepare or evaluate network diagrams, floor plans, or site configurations for existing facilities, renovations, or new systems.
- Prepare system activity and performance reports.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $79,327
- 25th percentile
- $103,962
- 50th percentile
- $133,490
- 75th percentile
- $168,189
- 90th percentile
- $203,417
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $133,490 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+14.4%faster than average
2025185,032 jobs
2035 projected211,642 jobs
26,610 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Bachelor's degree
- 33.3%
- Certificate
- 23.8%
- Some college
- 14.3%
- Associate degree
- 14.3%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 9.5%
- High school diploma or less
- 4.8%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Telecommunications Engineers762 postings
- 02Unified Communications Engineers155 postings
- 03Field Engineers105 postings
- 04VDC Coordinators104 postings
- 05Telecommunications Analysts71 postings
- 06Communications Engineers66 postings
- 07Communications Leads59 postings
- 08Engineers49 postings
- 09Telecommunications Designers49 postings
- 10Sub Secretaries48 postings
- 11Voice Engineers48 postings
- 12Electrical Design Engineers47 postings
- 13Telecommunications Network Engineers47 postings
- 14Guest Experience Experts42 postings
- 15General Field Engineers40 postings
- 16OSP Engineers39 postings
- 17OSP Field Engineers34 postings
- 18Voice Systems Engineers32 postings
- 19VoIP Engineers31 postings
- 20Wireless Engineers29 postings
Top employers
- 01Jacobs Solutions343 postings
- 02Maximus159 postings
- 03Motorola Solutions124 postings
- 04System One51 postings
- 05Accenture50 postings
- 06Lumen Technologies49 postings
- 07Marriott International45 postings
- 08Insight Global40 postings
- 09KLA Corporation39 postings
- 10Planate Management Group37 postings
- 11Peraton32 postings
- 12General Dynamics31 postings
- 13Okaya Infocom30 postings
- 14TEKsystems30 postings
- 15Amentum25 postings
- 16Mindlance20 postings
- 17Everforth Apex19 postings
- 18Robert Half19 postings
- 19Leidos17 postings
- 20Moseley Technical Services17 postings
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