I have been working as an RF engineer with Verizon in the Bay Area for almost 10 years now . I am at a point where I am disappointed with how low I am getting paid in a competitive market such as the Bay Area . Sometimes I think its the whole Telecom industry which typically doesn't pay that well as the software companies. If I try to jump ship ,the only few alternatives I have are the other big name Telecom companies which are just a handful and don't think I can get a major TC boost. Looking for some advice here on what options I could consider for a career boost . A few options I could think of are : Get Software development training(Udemy/Coursera) and try to jump to a software company or maybe internal position in Verizon .But, this feels like a radical shift and not sure if there are companies who would want to hire me with almost 0 exp. Move to Project/Program management : Taking this path by getting some sorta certification like PMP maybe and potentially look for inside openings within Verizon and jump the ship after a few years? Try to get in to other aspects of Wireless Engineering like(RF devices) etc assuming that it pays better. Again I lack exp in that area, so not sure how to proceed. I am very comfortable in my current role, WLB is great etc, but the pay has been stagnant. I hold a masters degree in Electrical Engineering (Wireless). Any one who were in the same boat and was able to transform their career to a new role? Any advice or better ideas? TC: Approx 120k YOE: 10
Yup telecom roles stagnate. Btw Apple has RF engineer positions.
Thats probably devices right? Not sure how to justify applying for such positions with my type of exp. Would they even consider it?
Oh If the roles are a 30% match I would apply and see where it goes. You can reach out to connections on LinkedIn for referrals. If you get no bites you can consider your next move. There are a LOT of ppl in the career stagnation boat. Also check on linkedin where ex employees from your company moved to. Gives an idea.
HW is a tough industry to switch jobs. Always specialist.
Yes i do exactly what you said here! I really would need to refresh my knowledge . Do you recommend any material / books for a refresher? I've been promoted 3 times!!
Ex-Wireless engineer here. My suggestion to you is to go get an Executive MBA, if you can afford it. Leverage the WLB at VzW and put time on finishing up your E-MBA. Haas has a great program, and Wharton SF is amazing. Once you get your MBA, get into McKinsey or Bain for consulting. Then you are back in the game. If you stay where you are, itâs going to get tougher.
Wait, you were able to get into MBB with an EMBA as a 30+ yo career switcher from Telecom? I'd imagine that case to be quite rare.
Very good advice. Thank you ! I personally don't think I have an acumen for an MBA / management type roles though! Would you recommend Project/ Program management?
Thank you all for the good advice! Really appreciate it!
Would you consider moving to the network vendors? Juniper, Cisco, Nokia etc. They don't pay as well as the full software companies but you can probably already double your TC. From there you can move as a PM or other to a software company
I could , but I don't see similar positions to what I presently do (RF performance optimization ) at those places.