Working with professional telecommunications equipment manufacturers for the past 14 years, we recognize that one of the biggest challenges they face is finding and retaining professional Equipment Test and QA engineers.
Why is it so difficult to find such engineers? The short answer is that such engineers have a specialized profile, requiring very technical skills in multiple areas. It’s not a common career path for telecommunications engineers and the ones making this choice do it out of sheer passion.
Telecommunications Equipment Test Engineers need to develop a niche of specialized technical knowledge about telecommunications software, hardware, and infrastructure; as they’ll be using technologies such as VOIP or WiFi, on a daily basis.
On top of that, the speed at which technology evolves requires that test engineers continually upgrade their knowledge and skills, making this field a competitive one.
To best answer this question, let’s break down the three areas we explore and discuss in our recruitment process:
By background, we understand formal training received in university. Our Test Engineers have a bachelor’s degree in engineering and they either followed a program in computer science, telecommunications, or electronic engineering. To be able to understand how telecommunications equipment works, an engineering background is a must.
The technical skills gained through experience are valuable but they are not a deal-breaker when an engineer has solid technical training together with the willingness to learn and commitment to delivering what is required.
The combination of engineering background, networking, protocols, and security knowledge, in addition to QA and testing knowledge, is what makes test engineers so hard to find. The ones that choose to specialize and develop such a profile do so out of a passion for the field, and it’s a path few choose to follow.
On top of that, there is an ever-growing demand for engineering graduates, which is not being fulfilled.
The Future of Work McKinsey Study from June 2020 estimates that across Europe STEM-related occupational roles could grow by more than 20 percent in the coming decade.
Telecommunications engineers, in particular, are in high demand due to wireless communication access and the expectation to have instant communication across the globe.
Continuous learning is one of our core values and we support our teams in the Electronic Equipment Services department to further develop their knowledge.
1. Job-specific training: we provide training and access to Cisco (CCNA), ITSQB and Linux certifications. These are mandatory certifications for engineers working with telecommunications and networking equipment.
Internal training is another component of job-specific training. We explore together with our clients and teams what skills they need to broaden and/or strengthen. Then we develop training programs to address those needs, including: automation testing, networking (eg. WiFi, DECT), and telecommunications, Python, Cucumber BDD Testing.
When we onboard a new test engineer, we provide hands-on project-specific training, and client-specific training (with a focus on the client’s equipment and business needs).
2. Soft skills training that the team members are interested in attending to become better professionals. These courses include important topics such as: Agile methodology, leadership, communication, and presentation skills.The telecommunications industry is constantly progressing and evolving. With the progress comes an increasing need for specialists who have a strong technical engineering background, relevant professional experience, desire to continuously learn, and of course, maintain passion for this profession. To meet the needs of our clients we will continue to train our engineers and our teams.