From watching TV on our mobile phones to purchasing all kinds of stuff online, Canada's telecommunications industry works behind the scenes to keep our wired and wireless lives constantly connected at ever faster speeds and higher reliability.
The telecommunications wizardry that lets us socialize anywhere, anytime over the airwaves and keeps the Internet connections humming for businesses, banks and governments has become as essential to our daily lives as electricity and water.
Can you imagine a whole day without mobile phone service, the Internet, Facebook or cable TV? You don't have to thanks to telecommunications professionals who have careers in one of the most exciting and constantly changing industries on the planet.
Whether it's a short Tweet to a friend or an MRI scan shared by medical specialists in different cities, the telecommunications industry makes sure unbelievably vast quantities of information gets to the right place within split seconds whether it's for fun or to save lives.
It's estimated that 1.8 trillion gigabytes of information was created globally last year which is almost nine times more than five years ago, according to IDC Digital Universe. YouTube alone had one trillion hits last year – equal to 140 views for every person on earth!
As both business and personal communications become increasingly mobile, the wireless sector of telecommunications is growing to meet our exploding needs. Out of 35 million Canadians, close to 26 million subscribe to wireless services and we send 227 million text messages per day. The wireless industry contributes $43 billion to Canada's economy and employs about 261,000 people with an average salary level of $60,031 according to the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association.
There are many different career paths to choose from in telecommunications, ranging from managing and maintaining wired, wireless or corporate networks to marketing and sales roles with companies that provide services like Bell Canada, Cisco and Ericsson.
For example, Marc Assaf is a customer solutions engineer at Bell Canada and is involved in designing telecommunications solutions for large organizations. Marc leads a team of 20 customer service engineers who look after Bell's top 20 business customers. Marc's projects include network solutions for major banks. When you use an ATM to withdraw money from your account, Marc and his team may well have created the network that makes it possible. Learn more about Marc's career in telecommunications in his CareerMash Meet The Pros Profile.
Here are a few other examples of telecommunications careers. Click on the role's title to read the full CareerMash Profile.
Network Managers keep a watchful eye on the network and everything connected to it. Even when networks hum to perfection, managers lead teams that use the latest in technologies and software tools to achieve better and faster communications.
Tech Marketing careers at telecommunications companies include a wide variety of activities such as strategy, product launches, market research, media campaigns, event management, competitive intelligence, design, copywriting, and web or mobile apps. Social media means constant change, challenging marketers to creatively blend traditional advertising with digital approaches like location-based mobile apps, friend-to-friend recommendations, 3D virtual stores, YouTube videos, web apps and real-time Twitter feeds.
Product and service sales professionals get excited about what the latest, greatest telecommunications innovations can do for their customers. There's sophisticated software to model network operations to minimize energy use. Or, telecommuting products and services that take cars off the road by allowing employees to work as productively at home as in the office. Product and service sales people don't just sell widgets and wires. They change the world with one technology at a time.
IT systems managers play vital roles in managing, planning and implementing the computing and information resources today's organizations need to meet their objectives. Their roles include analyzing, implementing, operating and managing software, telecommunications, networks and computer systems.
Help Desk/IT Support Specialists are expert at solving technical problems within an organization like when the Internet goes down. They are on the front lines, quickly solving problems to save valuable time for employees and customers.