Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers
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.
- Median pay
- $63,890
- Doing it now
- 143,100
- By 2035
- Down 3.3%
- Usually needs
- Postsecondary nondegree award
a year
across the country
11,300 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- 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.
- Test repaired, newly installed, or updated equipment to ensure that it functions properly and conforms to specifications, using test equipment and observation.
- Inspect equipment on a regular basis to ensure proper functioning.
- Repair or replace faulty equipment, such as defective and damaged telephones, wires, switching system components, and associated equipment.
- Remove and remake connections to change circuit layouts, following work orders or diagrams.
- Demonstrate equipment to customers and explain its use, responding to any inquiries or complaints.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Electrical/Electronics Maintenance and Repair Technologies/TechniciansSee 8 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Organised and precise
Analytical and curious
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $63,890 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.