Show Me the Money

Are RF engineers really making $100,000? That was the question debated in a recent on-line discussion forum. Some scoffed at that figure, but others acknowledged that it probably wasn't too far off given how tight the wireless-industry job market has become. Still, others admitted making that much themselves.

Realistic? The definitive answer is ... it depends. With build-outs, PCS start-ups and new subscribers signing up at a rate of 10 million a year, it's no surprise to hear that it's tough finding qualified people to fill positions in everything from engineering to sales. Between 1996 and 1997, carriers added more than 25,000 jobs, according to CTIA. For 1995 to 1996, the same figure was 16,000. With that kind of growth, is it any surprise that many new bachelor of science graduates in electrical engineering are getting offers upward of $45,000?

But numbers don't tell the whole story. Offers still vary according to the company and the person's education and experience. Four years ago, an RF engineer with a BS EE, three years' experience and a background in component design would average $45,000 to $48,000. Today, that resume could prompt an offer as high as $65,000, according to Bill DeWitt, president of Orion Technology, which specializes in placing wireless engineers.

"Most of the companies I work with, if they like a good candidate and feel he's a good fit, they have made very good offers," DeWitt said. "As the demand for qualified people becomes stronger, naturally they're willing or having to in most cases offer better compensation packages to attract the right people."

But others caution that such salaries mark the upper end of what carriers and manufacturers will offer. "The hot area is that mid-level person, not these high-end, over-$90,000 people," said Lillie Tobash of wireless recruiter Technology Resources.

Anecdotal evidence to the contrary, it's rare for companies to offer a 40% to 50% salary increase to lure even a franchise player away from a competitor.

"I don't have the sense that we've been in major bidding wars where we've had to pump up salaries," said Jim Bowles, BellSouth director of employee relations. "We have not been playing that game."

Others say that salaries are up because they're rebounding from the soft job market of the early 1990s. "Right now, wages are where they were 10 years ago in real terms, and that's only because they've come up moderately in the last year or two," said Christopher Currie, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) U.S. arm spokesperson.

That's why it's important to put rising salaries in perspective during your job hunt. As Joe Sommers, Ericsson national staffing manager, put it, "The stories you hear generally are the exception in a lot of cases."

MONETARY MYOPIA Companies are relying less on big salaries to land the right candidates. Although acknowledging that salaries will continue to rise to some degree, carriers and manufacturers have begun looking at alternatives such as profit-sharing and bonuses, both of which can help foster loyalty because your payout is tied directly to the company's success. Other popular perks include generous relocation assistance, more vacation time, flexible work hours, telecommuting options and education assistance.

Ultimately, your job search should be determined by more than salary and perks. That's because money, no matter how much, wears off after six months in a job you really don't enjoy. Instead, determine what your personal and career goals are before you begin your job search. The opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a growth industry or learn new technology can be a better long-term strategy.

"I think what really lures people into PCS is the newest technology -- the latest, the greatest -- and the entrepreneurial spirit," said Michael Penn, director of sales and marketing at PCS start-up Enterprise Communications. "To get experience, folks have moved on to start-ups."

For others, start-ups offer the opportunity to get away from a company where there's little room for advancement. That was the case with two people Penn hired.

"They really weren't going to go any farther with the company they were with, so they were ready for the next step," he said. "Sometimes, to move up, you've got to move out."

Unfulfilled expectations often are the real reason behind turnover, even though you might get the impression your co-workers are leaving solely for more money.

"As the pyramid narrows and there are less middle-management opportunities out there, folks aren't moving up as quickly as they might like, and that frustration creates some problems in terms of turnover," said BellSouth's Bowles.

That puts management in a difficult position: Give people raises to keep them happy when there are no vacant positions to promote them into or risk losing them. You might think you've won by using a job offer as leverage to get a promotion, but that strategy can backfire because administrative bloat is often where the cuts come in lean times.

Perhaps the best thing to keep in mind when considering your options is to ask what is key to your personal success. It's a question every company knows its employees are pondering.

"You need to strive to create the type of environment so that people will enjoy working in that culture," Sommers said. "Most people leave an organization because they feel that they don't fit, not because they're not getting paid enough."

AFTER THE GOLD RUSH Are salaries rising too far too fast? That's another question to ask before you begin your job search because how you answer it will help put salary offers in perspective. It is possible to price yourself out of the market.

"You come to a point of tradeoff where you realize, 'How far can you go in trying to inflate salaries?'" Sommers said.

Salary inflation perpetuates turnover and hopscotch, trends that hurt the industry -- and everyone who works in it.

What about other industries, such as computers and semiconductors? Determining how well wireless pays its people in comparison to other industries is difficult to determine because of variables such as education, experience and the individual companies' needs.

Orion's DeWitt said wireless is keeping pace.

"It has turned around," he said. "A year ago, there was a little discrepancy and shortfalls. But most of the companies and manufacturers realized that to attract the right people, they need to pay competitive wages, and they've been willing to do so. So I'd say it's extremely competitive."

Competitive enough that wireless is luring people from other industries? Yes, although there's no guarantee companies won't prefer people who have wireless experience.

"If they're going to pay those big bucks, they want that specific experience, " said Technology Resources' Tobash.

But a lack of wireless know-how might become less of a hurdle as converging technologies blur the lines between computers and wireless. Take Chad Herr, an Ericsson intern finishing a degree in computer science with a specialty in data communication and networking. Although he had originally planned to work in the computer industry, Herr was attracted by wireless' growth potential after attending a seminar sponsored by the Global Wireless Education Consortium.

"The fact that everything is going to go wireless in the near future was kind of cool," he said. "It just seemed to fit where I was trying to go in the networking field."

That career change doesn't surprise DeWitt, who gets a "substantial amount" of resumes from people who want positions in wireless but have little or no wireless background.

"There is a much wider range of growth options available to them," he said. "The industry for the last two-and-a-half years has been the hottest I've seen it."

One way to put the wireless job market in perspective is to go back to the early 1980s, when computer-science graduates found themselves in the right place at the right time. The wireless industry is part of that high-tech boom, which could be as fundamental a change as the industrial revolution. Whether you're a newly minted BS EE or an MS EE who dates as far back as the Al Sikes era, you're in a field whose growth hasn't outstripped its potential. The trick might be to recognize that even in the best of times, jobs will be eliminated and created as the industry matures. For example, as more carriers enter the final stages of their build-outs, the industry's personnel needs could shift from engineering to sales and customer service.

So what's the trick for remaining viable? Simply, the more you learn, the more you'll earn. Wireless' ability to lure people such as Herr away from other industries should concern you, but it shouldn't scare you. Industry emigres are only as attractive to wireless companies as the knowledge and skills they can bring. If you continually update your skills, you'll remain attractive, too.

Consider Don Pinchin, who's using Ericsson's education-assistance program to earn his master's degree.

"You have to keep current," Pinchin said. "You have to get your tickets punched to prove that you know what you're talking about."

Pinchin acknowledged that it's tough juggling a full-time job, family and night school, but he likened that sacrifice to investing in a 401(k) program.

"You sure could use the money now," he said, "but if you can make that commitment, it's something that will pay off in the end."

Remember the pia colada song from the 1970s? The guy puts an ad in the personals section hoping to find passion, excitement and the love of his life. Who shows up for the date? His own wife. That's something to think about when considering shopping yourself around to other companies. There are dozens of web sites where wireless professionals can post their resumes for companies to browse, but things can get messy when it's your employer who's looking. How can you test the waters without jeopardizing your current job?

"Put your resume on databases such as the popular Resume Blaster (www. resumeblaster.com), where you need to give only an e-mail address," advised Tara Floyd, president of the executive search firm The Caradyne Group.

Another approach: Use a recruiter that offers "blind" posting on its own web site, where companies browsing resumes must first contact the recruiter to get in touch with you. Only the recruiter knows your identity.

Other web sites worth visiting include:

* The Career Center site at www.rfglobalnet.com allows you to post your resume and browse job openings and salary surveys. The page also contains a link to the Career Development Forum, a bulletin board where topics include salaries, the merits of pursuing an advanced degree and which cities are telecommunications hotbeds.

* The Career Center link at the CTIA web site at www.wow-com. com/professional contains companies' job postings, which you can search by title and location, and links to recruiters. Companies pay to post openings, so there's less possibility of chasing a job that's already filled.

Another resume-posting site, the Wireless Job Net, debuts this month at the PCIA web site at www.pcia.com.

* The United States arm of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) hosts a job-listing service at www.ieeeusa.org/jobs.html. IEEE-USA also surveys high-tech industries including wireless every other year to find out which positions pay what. Highlights of the 1997 survey are available at http://engine.ieee.org/usab/catalog/97salary.html.

Recruiters and companies frequently include salary ranges with their job openings. A good starting point is www.commnow.com/links.html, which provides links to hundreds of carriers, manufacturers and other companies that operate in the wireless industry. Typing "wireless jobs" in your Internet search engine also will yield dozens of links to recruiters and companies.

Check the employment classifieds in daily newspapers in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver and other cities where telecommunications is hot. Many newspapers post their classifieds on-line, and two good places to find newspapers around the country are www.sltrib.com/links/notablenews/notable.htm and www. wmich.edu/politics/resources/natnews.html. Newspaper ads can be particularly helpful if location is a deciding factor in your job search.

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