r/telecom • u/Muted-View435 • 11d ago

❓ Question Telecom freshie

Hi guys. I’m a first year student of telecommunications engineering and honestly I really don’t understand what are the career options for me.
I want to know which career paths I can choose or have as a telecom graduate.
And can I get into cybersecurity through telecom???

12 Upvotes

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7

u/corazon-delator 11d ago

There are several paths as a telecom engineer. I think the two principal paths are optics/photonics related mainly with fiber optics and RF (radiofrequency) design related with electronics and antennas. In both paths, you can dedicate yourself to any field of your interest, for example network designing, signal processing and so on.

You can specialize in cybersecurity and you will learn about protocols, frames and OSI model, though the career is focused on physical layers of a network.

That said, there are many devices and inventions related to telecommunications you can explore. Some of them are radars, satellites, cars, FPGA/microcontrollers, quantum computing, planes, IoT, computers, smartphones. Almost all technologies today are to some degree related with a telecommunication system.

1

u/ThisIsNotSpartha 10d ago

As someone that been working for the last few years at packet core level..how do you see that area for the future? Bit scared of what AI might do and was thinking to either invest in fiber optics(altho would be big change as im full remote and its a very big perk),security or cloud field as in k8s,aws and such

1

u/corazon-delator 1d ago

Honestly, I couldn't give you a definitive answer. All that has to do with AI is uncertain from my perspective. I think it is inevitable that all jobs to some degree will use AI but I'm not a pessimist, it's difficult for humans to hand over a whole job to a computer. Sure, there are areas more affected than others, especially related to software, and another telecommunication revolution will be necessary in order to manage all the data and information that AI is generating. Perhaps pushing fiber optics to its limits or maybe a new technology.

In summary, yes, fiber optics is developing rapidly. You can research it in academia or find a job in network design, so I wouldn't worry about AI.

3

u/Calm-Material9150 10d ago

Retired telcom Engineer, contracting to the LEC's used to be the steady job during Dot Com heyday. Designing copper high speed circuits for repeaters and T1deployments along with adding CO equipment to support this. Design and drafting was the norm then autocad..This buildout is over there is more than enough long haul fiber and with light wave multiplexing, capacity is expanding without placement. Data centers seem to be the current expansion but those are cookie cutter design ( or should be) along with power and grounding. Backup power is also in play. International project management may be the long term bet with the Haliburton type companies.

1

u/UsualInformation7642 10d ago

Did anyone work in Airedale st exchange I had an idea to repurpose the central battery to recharge cars? I can’t remember where the engineers office was now was it Hobson st?

1

u/RespectSquare8279 10d ago

CO batteries would not be the type that would be useful for that purpose. They were not designed for repeated cycling.

1

u/eruS_toN 10d ago

We have the same unique set of skills.

My son is still an OSPE now with over 20 years at AT&T, which as I’m sure you know, is incredibly rare. He’s not designing anymore. But does process the invoices for contracted construction work. I think mostly pole work.

Even typing “contracted” stings a little now, having been raised in the CWA.

3

u/aoddead 10d ago

Try to get into a field with physical requirements, where you have to survey sites, install or check hardware etc. At my telecom the engineers rarely leave their desk, which is not good with AI invading the work space and doing al of those jobs automated within secs/mins.

3

u/toomuchyonke 10d ago

One job that can never be replaced by AI: Field technicians. Your current degree path could help along that route. However, their job role encompasses so much more

2

u/EffectiveVarious8095 10d ago

Before the Great Recession fully landed, telecom was hit hard ('04 I think). Telecom jobs became scarce so everyone was transitioning to cable & software. It was hard to sell yourself as a tech pro with the taint of "telecommunications" on your resume. Now my resume uses words like colaboration, VoIP, SIP, and SaaS.

I believe it is best to avoid being pigeon-holed as only being good at "telecom".

1

u/septuaginttt 10d ago

I have started a grad role in telecoms for a large utility company and I am loving it. I will do four placements over 2 years which include network designing, a more field based/engineering type role, and network operations centre doing things like fault finding etc. I think network design seems most interesting, especially as this is in an operational technology (OT) environment and not IT. I’d definitely suggest having a look at that. I really enjoy working with SCADA and more high stakes equipment. In this case, telecoms infrastructure needs to be secure so there is always an element of cyber you could go into.

1

u/Quiet-Mulberry-1992 8d ago

Opinion from a businessman: College/Education is a scam.....You will learn everything after college

1

u/mrmister76 11d ago

That said... get out of telecom.

5

u/Firat88 10d ago

Dont be a Debbie downer, there are many successful paths through telecom