A career in the telecommunications industry will suit those who enjoy constant change and want to get involved with technology at the cutting edge. It is a wide-ranging, competitive and fast-changing industry, and it offers an array of career options. Driven by advances in communications technology, notably the internet, broadband and mobile phones, the telecoms industry is, according to e-skills uk (the Sector Skills Council for Business and Information Technology), fast becoming indistinguishable from the IT industry. Many of the new technologies use broadband data networks carrying high volumes of multimedia traffic, and this is reflected in the skills required and the job roles available.

In this brief look at the telecoms industry, it is only the connection between the machines at both ends of the system that will be considered. However, this is a somewhat artificial line to draw because software and hardware developments increasingly affect both the formulation and use of information, becoming interlinked with its transmission and delivery. So readers should be familiar with the term ‘information and communication technology (ICT)’ as it becomes used more frequently. Indeed, the technology convergence mentioned above, between the IT and telecoms industries, is demanding upskilling in telecoms to a profile more similar to that of the IT industry, with skills traditionally regarded as being IT rather than telecoms based now being required. And, as with the IT sector, business and interpersonal skills are becoming more important

THE SECTOR AT A GLANCE

105,000 businesses in the UK offering IT and telecoms services

Together, they employ around 890,000 people

8,500 businesses in the UK manufacture telecoms products and provide telecoms services

600,000 IT and telecoms professionals work in organisations outside the IT and telecoms sectors

The total IT and telecoms workforce is approx. 1.5 million

300,000 approx. people work in the telecoms industry

Roughly 45,000 of these are engineers

Source: e-skills uk

The shape of the telecoms industry

The biggest employers outside the IT and telecoms industry itself are: financial services; public administration, education and health; and manufacturing. A total of 40% are now employed as ICT managers or IT strategy and planning professionals, and these are the occupations that have grown the most rapidly in the last six years. A further 30% are employed as software professionals. There have been substantial decreases in employment in other areas, such as IT user support, database and engineering roles.

Globalisation is affecting the age profile of IT and telecoms professionals. The proportion aged between 16 and 29 dropped from 32% in 2001 to 21% in 2007, as the sector favours experienced workers from other sectors over young recruits from the education system. The workforce is highly qualified, with 55% of the UK’s IT and telecoms professionals holding a qualification at level 4 or higher (undergraduate or degree level), nearly double that of the UK working population overall (although those working in telecoms are likely to have lower levels of qualification than those in IT). Moreover, only 3% of IT and telecoms professionals are not qualified to level 2. Gender remains a significant and worsening issue, and recent surveys show that only 18% of IT and telecoms workers are female.

It is estimated that the continued adoption and exploitation of ICT could generate an additional £35 billion of GVA to the UK economy over the coming five to seven years, provided companies – particularly smaller companies – take action on the key factors of management and leadership skills, investment and the IT enablement of employees.

Convergence of the telecoms and IT industries means that voice and data communications, which used to be two separate areas, are now coming together and using the same communications channels. The key to telecoms is ‘bandwidth’ – the amount of information that can be carried by a particular method of transmission like a cable or a radio wave. Modern developments involve enlarging the capacity of the links, increasing global coverage, joining end-users together, and providing more facilities over more networks.

Mobile telecoms

To most people, mobile telecoms nowadays means mobile phones, with links using radio and microwave, and their masts and dishes can be seen all around. Satellites may also be used in both mobile and static telecoms networks. Digital TV users will know of both cable and satellite services, while 3G technology, BlackBerrys, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and quad-band devices are commonplace.

Fixed telecoms
 

Fixed telecoms may include all the infrastructure necessary to run a local or wide area network, and the links between the two. It may provide business services, telephones, television and much more besides, and may be used to transmit voice, fax, data, graphics or any combination of these. The most common carriers of fixed telecoms are cables, made from both copper and fibre-optics.

Networks

Typically, a number of different commercial organisations will both provide and share telecoms network facilities. Signals pass through switches and links owned by many companies and rented by the service provider. Their routing is up to the owner of the links, and a mobile phone call will be just one message among those of many other phone and fax users. However, over the next few years, there will be a move away from circuit-switched voice networks to a system that works completely through the internet.

Messages need protocols to ensure that they get to the right place. They may need to be compressed and then decompressed, and they may be split into tiny fragments, with each one being sent separately and the whole being reconstituted.

Telecommunications skills gained in the Services

Each Service has its ‘expert’ telecoms staff in the specialist communications and electronics branches, although there may be other people serving who have considerable expertise. Some will have relevant degrees, while others will have other qualifications.

Some people will also have specialised in telecoms and/or electronics as part of their career pattern. They are still likely to have a number of very transferable and marketable skills, but these may need to be targeted in a particular area.

Service people without the necessary technical background can still enter the industry, but this will probably be at a lower level. Their personal qualities are valued, as are the core skills they may bring, including map reading, first aid and even an ability to work at heights.

TRANSLATE YOUR SKILLS

Service leavers need to discover the area of telecoms right for them and for which they can reasonably expect to have the necessary qualifications and background. There is a wide range of resettlement training courses in this sector, but individuals are advised to talk with people working in the industry to try to establish a reasonable starting point based on their previous skills and experience. They should then look for the courses and training that suit them. The key is to start early and take resettlement training so it can be enhanced by self-study, academic qualifications and an industry placement.

Qualifications

Industry recruiters face three main problem areas:

1. lack of qualifications
2. lack of experience
3. shortage of essential skills.

Also regarded as being of key importance to employers and possessed by Service leavers are:

• problem-solving skills
• oral communications
•  team-working skills.

Those in the Forces can gain qualifications through their employment and personal development while they are serving. This will primarily be to do with the theory necessary to use equipment, its actual use, and how to pass on that knowledge to others. The academic background and the principles of certain equipment use will be highly relevant to future employment, so the aim should be to build up these qualifications, while those whose career path does not include such courses should look at day release, evening classes, open learning and the internet for opportunities to learn before they leave.

A new suite of national occupational standards was recently launched by e-skills UK (to find out more about these and the qualifications available, visit www.e-skills.com/nos).

SKILLS GAPS

Companies that report skills gaps state that these affect large proportions of their employees – on average 23% of all their IT and telecoms professionals. They also report that:

• 70% of staff with skills gaps lack technical skills, 30% business skills and 31% interpersonal skills
• 81% of companies believe skills gaps represent an adverse effect on their business.

Employment in telecoms

In addition to catering for continued growth, recruitment into IT and telecoms also needs to replace those who leave the sector due to retirement or for other reasons. Of the overall recruitment into IT and telecoms professional jobs (to cover both growth and replacement), 65% is expected to be into managerial and senior professional positions; 19% into associate professional and technician level positions (such as operations technicians and user support); and 17% into skilled trades (telecoms engineers) and administrative roles (database assistants). On top of ‘churn’ within these occupations, there is a need for an average of 141,300 new entrants a year into professional job roles.

More than 20% of companies trying to recruit IT and telecoms professionals report difficulties in attracting applicants with the right skills. This is generally due to mismatches in terms of business and high-level technical skills needs. Micro establishments are most likely to rate applicants’ skills levels as below those required. Virtually all companies experiencing recruitment problems report a negative impact on their company’s activities, the most common effect being difficulties in meeting customer service objectives. There is also a need to radically improve the understanding and appeal of careers in IT and telecoms among women.

TYPICAL TELECOMS JOBS

The main job roles in the telecoms industry include:

• aerial rigging
• equipment wirer and assembler
• exchange power technician
• internal network construction
• installer of radio equipment in cars
• international networks
• mobile switching engineer
• network management
• network planning
• narrowband and wideband planning
• radio base station engineer
• radio frequency engineer
• radio repair technician
• radio systems design engineer
• satellite communications
• systems production supervisor
• field operations, including

Source: www.e-skills.com (you can find out about all of the above jobs, in detail, here)

A rough guide to salaries
Because pay varies so much from one company and contract to another, the following figures are for guidance only, although the average reported annual salary is around £35,000:

• engineer – £15,000 to £25,000
• team leader – £18,000 to £22,000
• project manager – £22,000 to £40,000
• technical trainer – £28,000 to £50,000
• network engineer – up to £50,000.

Overtime, shift work and benefits can increase these rates.

KEY CONTACTS

e-skills UK, 1 Castle Lane, London SW1E 6DR Tel: 020 7963 8920 Website: www.e-skills.com

Communications Management Association, 1st Floor, Block D, North Star House, North Star Avenue, Swindon SN2 1FA Tel: 01793 417605 Website: www.thecma.com

Confederation of Aerial Industries Ltd, Communications House, 41a Market Street, Watford, Hertfordshire WD18 0PN Tel: 01923 803030 Website: www.cai.org.uk

Society of Cable Telecommunication Engineers (The Society for Broadband Professionals), Communications House, 41a Market Street, Watford, Hertfordshire WD18 0PN Tel: 01923 815500 Website: www.scte.org.uk