Careers for a Telecommunications Geek
The number of cars in each lane and how every road makes a loop but still continues, that's the world of telecommunications. From basic computer troubleshooting, mending wired infrastructure, wireless design, network automation to even cybersecurity hacks, this humongous world of the telecom sector is omnipresent and never perishable!
I have an undergraduate and graduate degree in Telecommunications Engineering. But even that doesn't mean I've mastered this domain. It is a pretty daunting task to excel over all subtopics, still with my experience and studying with knowledgable folks around me, I have penned down some of the mainstream and core career pathways.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT/ ADMIN
Remember as a kid when you tried to fix your computer internet issues, maybe tried to go to Network Adapter settings on your Windows PC and experiment with DNS and IPv4 addresses. A Technical Support engineer enjoys doing the same things, but something more advanced. You will have a lot of customer support interactions, fixing IT issues, Linux-ing commands, taking remote control of another application using SSH, providing support for routers and switches and a lot of THE ABOVE GIF moments!
YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THIS IF YOU LOVE: Linux, Computer Systems, Communication with customers
NETWORK ENGINEERING
Have you had moments of frustration when you could not implement the OSPF on your network topology? And then use BGP instead because you want the best path with best results? HAHA! You are on the path to become a networking prodigy. Yes, Networking is not that easy, but once you have a good command over R&S concepts, subnetting, IP tracing, a little bit of automation and an excellent grasp of OSI and TCP, you are all set!
YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THIS IF YOU LOVE: TCP IP, OSI Layers, DNS, Subnetting and Routing Protocols
SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORKING/ NETWORK AUTOMATION / IoT
"You know, I'm something of a programmer myself!" If you think like Osborn and are also passionate about networking, you are meant for this field. The future looks very promising and with Metaverse taking over, network automation will dethrone a lot of traditional systems. Tools like Solarwinds, Netmiko, Ansible are your appetizers and SDN/ NFV will make you competent to develop APIs to monitor underlying network infrastructure.
YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THIS IF YOU LOVE: Everything about Network Engineering, SDN, NFV, Python language, Automation software
RADIO FREQUENCY/ WIRELESS TECH
Enough of Wi-Fi reconnections and failed Bluetooth transmissions? Tired of ever evolving cellular technologies with 6G in contention? Bugged about choosing the right high frequency components for appropriate circuit power and cost? If you are intrigued rather than thinking of giving up, this is your cup of tea! Honestly, wireless is a broad field consisting of digital electronics, antennas, RF design, cellular engineering, modem systems and wireless networking (may be missing quite a few).
YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THIS IF YOU LOVE: Everything about Wireless Networking, Radio Frequency Basics, Modulation Schemes, Antenna Characteristics, Electronic Design, LTE/ CDMA
REGULATORY AFFAIRS/ ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY
Finally, I get to talk about my area of concentration, my multiverse! A lot of wireless concepts from the above topic are a must in this path. You don't want the radiations of your mobile phone to interfere with a wireless X-ray machine in a hospital. You are always told to keep your phones on flight mode while traveling in an airplane. This is because every electrical equipment has the ability to radiate (emissions) and also absorb foreign radiations (immunity), both result in RF interference. Since it deals with a lot of device compatibility with region specific telecom rules, obtaining certifications is mandatory.
YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THIS IF YOU LOVE: A lot about wireless and RF, Concepts about emissions and immunity, FCC and EU EMC Certifications, Basics of electrical circuit theory, Electro Physics, SAR Testing
FIBER/ OPTICS ENGINEER
Nah, don't believe the Simpsons! Fiber cables are very important. They carry high amounts of data traffic at incredibly high speeds, useful for HD television transmission and since they provide a considerable security, military and aerospace applications benefit a lot. Activities included are optical test & measurement, fiber splicing, computer networking in terms of physical layer, data analysis and 3D modeling.
YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THIS IF YOU LOVE: SolidWorks, CAD, Experimenting on fiber cables, Component level troubleshooting, Splicing
CLOUD SUPPORT
The cloud has a lot of load right now, it has rented a lot of allocation to businesses. If you don't implement proper administrative techniques, it will CRY! Jokes aside, people in this area work on implementing cloud policing rules, infrastructures, networking environments and are mostly certified in AWS, Azure and Oracle. Along with all of this, a strong grasp of computer networks and programming is beneficial for practical learning.
YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THIS IF YOU LOVE: Amazon Web Services, Azure, Kubernetes, GCP, Cloud Management Policies, Computer Networks, Monitoring system level performance
CYBERSECURITY/ ETHICAL HACKING/ NETWORK SECURITY
And coming to the last I can think about, though many would argue to not consider this one under Telecommunications, I think with the number of cyber attacks happening everywhere, a strong Telecom mindset is totally beneficial. Folks are generally skilled in designing VPNs, firewalls, ransomware attack recovery, phishing identification, network disaster recovery, cryptography and excellent scripting.
YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THIS IF YOU LOVE: VPN, Performing ethical attacks on an institution, Data recovery, Network monitoring, Cryptography
Being a SME is not a smart idea, we should think of maximizing all the information out there and elevate knowledge to make a better Telecommunications sector. There are a lot of other fields present too, but for this blog post, these ones make sense and can hopefully help a smart mind to purse a career or professionals to widen their vision.
- Pralhad