Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers

Overview

Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers has a national median salary of $63,890 per year, with -3.3% projected job growth from 2025–2035. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a postsecondary certificate as the typical education needed to enter this occupation.

Description

Install, set up, rearrange, or remove switching, distribution, routing, and dialing equipment used in central offices or headends. Service or repair telephone, cable television, Internet, and other communications equipment on customers' property. May install communications equipment or communications wiring in buildings.

Work Values

• Support
• Independence
• Working Conditions

Work Styles

Responsibilities

Tasks

• Note differences in wire and cable colors so that work can be performed correctly.
• Test circuits and components of malfunctioning telecommunications equipment to isolate sources of malfunctions, using test meters, circuit diagrams, polarity probes, and other hand tools.
• Drive crew trucks to and from work areas.
• Assemble and install communication equipment such as data and telephone communication lines, wiring, switching equipment, wiring frames, power apparatus, computer systems, and networks.
• Run wires between components and to outside cable systems, connecting them to wires from telephone poles or underground cable accesses.

Work Activities

• Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Getting Information
• Controlling Machines and Processes
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Performing General Physical Activities
• Working with Computers
• Handling and Moving Objects

Detailed Work Activities

• Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.
• Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
• Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
• Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
• Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
• Performing general physical activities includes doing activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
• Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
• Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.

T-A-S-K

Technology, Abilities, Skills & Knowledge

Education

Education Levels of Current Workers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a postsecondary certificate as the typical education needed to enter this occupation. The chart below shows the highest level of education held by people already working in this field, ages 25 and older. It includes workers who earned more education than the job requires and workers who entered the field under earlier requirements, so the largest bar is not the entry requirement. For example, if someone finished an associate's degree and then started working in this field, they are counted under “Associate's degree” here, but the job itself typically asks for a postsecondary certificate.

Certificates

Certifications applicable to Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers:

Video Resources