Telecom Engineering is probably one of those fields that have witnessed rapid advancement in recent years. It comes as no surprise that it is among the most pursued careers today. Whether you are a fulltime employee, looking to earn a few extra bucks by the side, or you are a self-employed engineer, simply trying to get your business up and running, there is much scope in freelance telecom engineers.
You can opt for freelance for many different reasons. Extra income, work from home, be able to take on multiple tasks, independence; the list continues. Whatever your preferences, you can be assured that a freelance telecom engineer is a career that will give you a comfortable life, and a low-pressure, low stress working environment like your home.
Freelance Telecom Engineer Jobs Duties
Your duties as a telecom engineer will include taking care of the telecom, testing the server, maintaining telecom peace and fixing network hell, among many other duties. Let’s have an elaborate look at the scope of your duties as a freelance Telecom Engineer:
- Plan telecom installations by studying customer orders, plans, manuals, and technical specifications; ordering and gathering equipment, supplies, materials, and tools, assessing installation site; preparing an installation diagram.
- Establishes voice and data telecoms by running, pulling, terminating, and splicing cables; installing telecommunications equipment, routers, switches, multiplexors, cable trays, and alarm and fire-suppression systems; building ironwork and ladder racks; establishing connections; programming features; establishing connections and integrations; following industry standards; activating remote access tools; coordinating with contractors.
- Verifies service by testing circuits, equipment, and alarms; identifying, correcting, or escalating problems.
- Documents telecom by labeling and routing telecommunications equipment and cables; recording configuration diagrams and specifications.
- Maintains telecom by troubleshooting and repairing outages; testing telecom back-up procedures; updating documentation.
- Maintains customer rapport by listening to and resolving concerns; answering questions.
- Maintains a safe work environment by following codes, standards, and legal regulations.
- Keeps supplies ready by inventorying stock; placing orders; verifying receipt.
- Updates job knowledge by participating in educational opportunities; reading technical publications.
- Enhances department and organization reputation by accepting ownership for accomplishing new and different requests; exploring opportunities to add value to job accomplishments.
While regular office hours are the norm, when you are working remotely, you may have to work long days and some weekends close to project deadlines. Overnight and weekend stay may be required for telecom tests. Telecom engineers can be on call 24 hours a day.
Skills
To be a good telecom engineer, you must master certain skills. You should be able to determine, enforce, and even monitor the telecom. You will design and set up rules of engagement, but the job role will often demand more from you than an implementation and design process. You need to develop some of these skills to do well; some of them include:
- Mathematical skills
- Complex Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Scientific Skills
- Decision Making
- Operations Research
- Operations Analysis
- Co-ordination
- Active Learning
- Self-motivated
- Able to work remotely
- Systems Analysis
- Quality control
- Deductive Reasoning
- An understanding of network models
- Networking skills
- Understanding of Network models
- Equipment selection
- Social Perceptiveness
Many websites will help you develop the above-mentioned skills. However, you must remember that Telecom Engineering is a graduate-level course, often requiring four years of intensive study. However, many websites offer training courses as well as certification courses online. Certify-TCO, Tercomtraining, Bircham and Telecom Tutorials offer many options to learn online, in either course or self-training video formats.
Being Successful As A Freelance Telecom Engineer
More often than not, talent is not a determinant of success in any sphere. It is possibly truer for engineers, with the freelance market insisting that talent combined with the relevant experience attracts generous prospective employers.
Hence, to be successful initially, you could:
- Offer to do projects for minimum fees, sometimes for free
- Bid the lowest for a project on freelancer portals
- Get good testimonials for guest blogs, recommendations for work
- Start a blog, backlink it to more visible blogs
- Create a website, or at the very least, a web page
- Advertise your services on social media platforms
- Understand the engineering requirement intimately
- Sharpen your communication skills, as it would help you get more jobs
- Master Engineering Basics
- Keep abreast of the latest technological innovations
Telecom Engineer Salary
Most of the revenue generated by you will depend solely on your ability to market your services and your credibility with previous employees.
Usually, freelance portals offer various kinds of payment models. In the fixed-price model, the price is usually pre-determined. The hourly model is the most popular and employers usually pay a predetermined sum per hour. Finally, in the project-budget based model, you often need to auction for such projects. Usually, a fixed price model may range from $20- $200 and upwards, while you have to pitch for hourly projects, and budget payments, which usually range from $5- $35 an hour, with average payments at $22 per hour.
Finding Work
Many websites, forums, and portals offer hundreds of jobs to freelance engineers like you. Elance, Odesk, Peopleperhour, and Guru offer many opportunities for freelance telecom engineers around the globe.
Resources
Telecom Engineering is a graduate-level course, often requiring four years of intensive study. But, there are many websites that offer training courses as well as certification courses online. (1) Certify-TCO, Tercomtraining, Bircham and Telecom Tutorials offer many options to learn online, in either course or self-training video formats.
