---
title: "Telecommunications Engineering Specialist"
description: "Design or configure wired, wireless, and satellite communications systems for voice, video, and data services. Supervise installation, service, and…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/telecommunications-engineering-specialist"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Telecommunications Engineering Specialist

**Category:** Computer and Mathematical · **SOC code:** 15-1241 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 15-1241.01

Design or configure wired, wireless, and satellite communications systems for voice, video, and data services. Supervise installation, service, and maintenance.

Also advertised as: Communications Engineer; Engineer; Infrastructure Engineer; Network Engineer; Registered Communications Distribution Designer (RCDD); Telecommunication Design Analyst (Telecom Design Analyst); Telecommunication Design Engineer (Telecom Design Engineer); Telecommunication Engineer (Telecom Engineer).

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $134,050 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $64.45/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $79,900 to $202,680, with the middle half between $104,620 and $168,200
- **Total US employment:** 179,740
- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +11.9% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 11,200 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 32/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 179,740 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $79,900 |
| 25th | $104,620 |
| 50th (median) | $134,050 |
| 75th | $168,200 |
| 90th | $202,680 |
| Mean (average) | $139,580 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WA | $168,070 | $157,056 | 4,730 |
| NJ | $162,350 | $149,212 | 5,660 |
| MD | $159,460 | $151,926 | 5,860 |
| CA | $158,870 | $143,488 | 14,870 |
| MA | $155,060 | $146,619 | 6,270 |
| SD | $153,390 | $173,154 | 420 |
| DE | $148,390 | $148,675 | 760 |
| CT | $143,890 | $138,877 | 1,570 |
| VA | $141,340 | $139,797 | 9,380 |
| NY | $140,390 | $130,086 | 9,800 |
| CO | $139,230 | $135,107 | 16,380 |
| NV | $138,060 | $138,089 | 1,010 |
| DC | $137,670 | $125,267 | 1,490 |
| OR | $135,660 | $131,249 | 1,540 |
| SC | $134,990 | $143,991 | 1,950 |

37 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 52 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/telecommunications-engineering-specialist/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/telecommunications-engineering-specialist.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 179,200 in the 2024–2034 base year to 200,600 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 21,400 jobs, or +11.9%. Much faster than average: 11.9% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 11,200 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Some preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** 5 years or more.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 23.8% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 19.1% |
| Some College Courses | 14.3% |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 14.3% |
| Post-Baccalaureate Certificate | 14.3% |
| High School Diploma | 4.8% |

## What the work involves

- 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.
- 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.
- Estimate costs for system or component implementation and operation.
- Work with personnel and facilities management staff to install, remove, or relocate user connectivity equipment and devices.
- Consult with users, administrators, and engineers to identify business and technical requirements for proposed system modifications or technology purchases.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Evaluation — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Telecommunications — importance 4.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Engineering and Technology — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Information Ordering — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Conventional (C), Realistic (R), Investigative (I).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| C — Conventional | 4.95 |
| R — Realistic | 4.54 |
| I — Investigative | 4.29 |
| E — Enterprising | 3.07 |
| S — Social | 2.31 |
| A — Artistic | 1.90 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 93.3 |
| ESTJ | 77.1 |
| ISTP | 76.4 |
| INTJ | 74.8 |
| ISFJ | 71.5 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Computer Network Architect](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-network-architect) — median $134,050
- [Computer Network Support Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-network-support-specialist) — median $76,220
- [Telecommunications Equipment Installer and Repairer, Except Line Installers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/telecommunications-equipment-installer-and-repairer) — median $63,890
- [Computer Systems Engineers/Architect](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-systems-engineers-architect) — median $116,580
- [Network and Computer Systems Administrator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/network-and-computer-systems-administrator) — median $99,130
- [Electronics Engineer, Except Computer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electronics-engineer) — median $130,220
- [Computer Systems Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-systems-analyst) — median $105,850
- [Software Developer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/software-developer) — median $135,980
- [Radio, Cellular, and Tower Equipment Installer and Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/radio-cellular-and-tower-equipment-installer-and-repairer) — median $63,520
- [Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronic-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $78,190

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/telecommunications-engineering-specialist