Rochester Business Journal

Students intending to pursue a career in telecommunications are encountering a fast-paced, rapidly changing industry.
 
Telecommunications is constantly evolving, with cellphones capable of doing more and more and new inventions and developments occurring every day.
 
Years ago, the word "telecommunications" referred to just telephone service, though it technically encompassed all long-distance communications. Employees in the industry had to know how to operate switchboards and handle all the rest of the necessary and relevant technical knowledge.
 
But with today's cellphones allowing access to the Internet, the opportunity to check emails, play videos and do many things besides simply make a phone call, the telecommunications industry has been transformed.
 
"One of the first words that come to mind when you think about telecommunications is 'changing,'" says Wayne Knox, associate dean of education and new initiatives in the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Rochester. "Everything is changing all the time.
 
"It's amazing how fast things have changed. People used to pick up a telephone with a cord attached to it and they would call an operator, who would then connect them through. Thinking about where telecommunications started off and how limiting that was, can you imagine that happening now?"
 
Degrees relevant to telecommunications are available to students at many colleges and universities in the region. Monroe Community College, SUNY College at Alfred and the University of Rochester all offer degrees in subjects such as computer science, engineering, optical systems technology and electro-optics. Rochester Institute of Technology offers the only local telecom-specific major in telecommunications engineering technology at the master's degree level.
 
The most recent statistics from MCC, for the fall 2011 semester, show that enrollment in computer-related degrees is significant: 105 students were enrolled in computer/information technology and 107 each in computer information systems and computer science. Other degrees relevant to telecom such as electrical engineering technology-electronics and optical systems technology had 86 and 24 students, respectively, says Hency Yuen-Eng, spokeswoman for MCC.
 
"Telecommunications is very interdisciplinary," Knox says. "It requires people with all different backgrounds working together.
 
"You want to train a student to have broader experiences that cover a number of different disciplines, and that's how they're going to be trained to go out in the world and tackle these problems."
 
Telecommunications is a very large industry that includes companies that make software and hardware and provide all the services that enable technology devices to run.
 
The industry, like any other, includes many different fields. Engineers, experts in computer science and electro-optics, and optical systems technology analysts are a few of the necessary people.
 
A student attaining a bachelor's degree in an area relevant to telecommunications should consider obtaining a graduate degree in a more specialized area of the field, Knox says.
 
Michael Eastman, chairman of RIT's department of electrical, computer and telecommunications engineering, agrees with that assessment.
 
"Most students are looking to get a bachelor's degree in a fairly broad area," Eastman says. "If you look at a bachelor's degree in telecommunications engineering technology, while the preparation itself is quite broad, the name of the degree program is such that you feel like you're siloed into a particular industry. The breadth is not apparently obvious. "
 
That is one reason why the B.S. in telecommunications engineering technology at RIT is being discontinued.
 
"The main reason why it's being discontinued is we have had a difficult time in attracting undergraduate students into the program," Eastman says. "Those students that come into the program and complete the program are getting very good job opportunities-we actually have more job opportunities than we have students available-but we have had historically a pretty small number of students within that program, and at this point it didn't make sense to continue it because of the small number of students."
 
Though the undergraduate degree was not as successful as anticipated, the telecommunications engineering technology major at the master's degree level at RIT is very popular.
 
"The graduate program is not only strong, it is at a point where we capped enrollments last year at 30 graduate students and we will cap enrollments again this year," Eastman says.
 
With the popularity of RIT's M.S. degree, as well as the interest in the relevant undergraduate degrees offered by other local colleges, the next question is whether employment opportunities are available after graduation.
 
The good news for hopefuls looking to break into the telecom sector is that there are plenty of employment opportunities.
 
"There's a lot of turbulence in the industry," Knox says. "But one thing you know is that if people are going to keep using a lot of telecommunications, then they're going to need a lot of people to make that stuff work."
 
Eastman says: "More and more devices are becoming communications-enabled, and more and more people are using communications devices. The industry is not going away, and the technology associated with the industry is not going away. In fact, it's growing, not only in this country but internationally."
 
Simply put, the industry is always looking for new talent.
 
John Purcell, chairman and CEO of Fibertech Networks LLC, says that students who come out of local universities like RIT and UR are exceptionally well-prepared.
 
"We only hire half a dozen in Rochester a year," Purcell says. "And we have more than enough talented and qualified people apply. We have more than we ever pick."
 
Expertise in the industry is not the only deciding factor in the hiring process, according to Purcell. Prospective employees must have good communications and listening skills and a willingness to become part of a team.
 
"If we're hiring a young person with no great experience," Purcell says, "we want to see that they're prepared in their field and that they've done well academically. We're interested in their ability to apply that and their willingness to be team players." 
 
Katherine Alexander is a Rochester Business Journal intern.6/29/12 (c) 2012 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-546-8303 or email service@rbj.net.