A telecommunication engineer works with telecommunications equipment, hardware and services. As an engineer, you would solve problems, assess situations and apply solutions with the understanding of knowledge of telecommunications, including ISDN, analog, T1, T2, SONET and ATM. Telecommunication engineers understand how telecommunications equipment and services work and are equipped to handle disruptions of service and come up with solutions to deal with problems as they may arise in the field. They also design and create telecommunications systems.

Problem solving and the ability to analyze situations are critical to the job. Since textbooks only teach how things work, it takes a strong, persistent, organizational and analytical person to take the information on how telecommunications works and apply it to the real world where a variety of unforeseen and unexpected circumstances require unique problem solving to get the job done. Also, communication (verbal and written) are needed, as well as the ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure.