Telecom (telecommunications) is the industry that uses communications technologies to connect people around the corner and around the world. It includes everything from home and mobile phones to TV, radio and the Internet. 
Telecom companies like Verizon use all kinds of constantly-changing technologies, including fiber optics and cellular and satellite communications.
#124 Telecom employers now want workers with skills in computer programming and software design, voice telephone technology, laser and fiber optics, wireless technology, and data compression.
Debra S.
Assistant Vice President
"Believe, Achieve, and Succeed.
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top research universities, and major government programs all located here, Maryland is a place where some of the biggest breakthroughs in telecommunications are happening.
Have big ideas of your own? You can start your own company here! But if you want to join an established telecom team, Maryland has dozens of major public and private players...
WHERE YOU CAN WORK
· Aberdeen Proving Ground
· Antenna Design & Manufacturing
· ARINC
· Avaya
· BAE Systems
· Bechtel Telecommunications
· Broadwing Corp.
· CIENA
· CSS Antenna
· Corvis Corp.
· DIGEX
· Discovery Communications
· Hughes Network Systems
· Intelsat
· K&L Microwave
· L-3 Communications Titan Group
· M/A COM
· NASA
· National Security Agency (NSA)
· PCTEL – RF Solutions Group
· Thales Communications
· TV1
· Verizon
· Viasat
· VoicestreamWireless
Plus Maryland has big-time research & development facilities such as:
· Center for Satellite and Hybrid Communication Networks (HyNet), University of Maryland
· Center of Microwave/Satellite and RF Engineering, Morgan State University
· Mobile Computing and Multimedia Laboratory, University of Maryland
· Center for Photonics Technology, Optical Fiber Communications Laboratory, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
· Maryland Center for Telecommunications Research, University of Maryland
WHAT YOU CAN BE
Here are just a few of the huge number of careers in telecom:
· Account representative
· Accountant
· Cabling project manager
· Construction coordinator
· Customer service representative
· Data communications technician
· Database administrator
· Field technician
· Internet developer
· Marketing research specialist
· Software engineer
· Systems analysis and programming specialist
· Technical support agent
· Telephone installer
· Test engineer
SHORTAGE / NEED AREAS
What Are the Hottest Telecom Careers?
Some of the telecom jobs predicted to grow the most are:
· Computer and information systems managers
· Network systems and data communications analysts
· Retail salespersons
· Customer service representatives
WHY WORK IN TELECOM?
Some of the top reasons people choose to work in the telecom industry are:
· It’s exciting. The telecom industry is one of the fastest-changing industries out there. Think of how fast the technologies for cell phones, the Internet and TV keep advancing. Only 10 years ago, the Internet was considered a new thing, and wireless Internet was unheard of!
· There are so many different kinds of jobs. You can be a cable line installer, a computer software engineer, a technical support rep, a salesperson, an attorney – the list of telecom careers goes on and on.
· You can take your skills with you. In a field like telecom, you can work anywhere -- in government, in a large or small company, at a college or university, or in your own startup business -- in virtually any town where you choose to live.
· It can be flexible. Because telecom is about hi-tech communications, it offers more opportunities to work from home, or to work as a consultant, than many other industries.
· Salaries can be high. Some of the top-paying telecom jobs can reach into six figures. And for entrepreneurs whose businesses succeed, the rewards can be in the millions. The inventors of YouTube, for example, sold their company to Google for $1.65 billion!
HOW CAN YOU PREPARE NOW?
In telecom, as with IT, you’ll need strong computer, math and communications skills, and the ability to work on a team. (A lot of telecom research and other work is done by teams of employees.)
Here’s what you can do now to get ready:
· Take advanced math and science courses. Make sure you take and pass Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Math and science skills are essential for most telecom jobs.
· Know your computers. Take all the computer courses you can. Learn everything you can about how hardware works and how software is developed as well as how to use it all!
· Have strong communications skills. All employers expect it. But in telecom, where your job is all about communications, it’s even more important to be able to speak, write, read and communicate well.
· Surf for information. Get on the Web and find the telecom companies you might want to work for. See what they do, what careers they offer, and what they look for in job applicants.
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