Looking for some guidance on what to study to prepare for an interview for an emergency telecommunications position. Please help if you can!

[Katiekatelynn]

Hello!! Looking for some guidance on what to study to prepare for an interview for a telecommunications position.
This is the question and I would love to get some ideas of where to start. Thanks!

“ network statistics sheets will be provided from our radio networks. You will have 10 minutes to review, and find any discrepancies(s). We will look to understand your though process in pointing out the discrepancies(s)”

 

[MTS2000des]

What position?

 

[Katiekatelynn]

What position?

It’s for a telecommunication coordinator 😅

 

[mmckenna]

It’s for a telecommunication coordinator 😅

Where?

We had "telecommunications coordinators", but they were mostly a customer service type position. Asking to review radio network statistics sounds more like running a trunked radio system. They might be talking about traffic loading, or something else. If you can share a link to the job description, maybe we can provide some more detail.

 

[Katiekatelynn]

Where?

We had "telecommunications coordinators", but they were mostly a customer service type position. Asking to review radio network statistics sounds more like running a trunked radio system. They might be talking about traffic loading, or something else. If you can share a link to the job description, maybe we can provide some more detail.

 

[Katiekatelynn]

I studied ionizing and non ionizing radiation in university, so I understand wavelength, frequency and amplitude. I have been interested in telecommunications because I am a prepper- so I would like to learn about this infrastructure more. Right not I have a technical admin job planning other infrastructure. I think that’s why they chose to interview me. It’s a good job. But I have 2 weeks to gather more understanding of telecom and emergency radio. I think they are putting emerg telecom digital or encrypted so it cannot be listened to by the public. So my job would be learning and helping to coordinate that change over

 

[K4EET]

Hi @Katiekatelynn and welcome to Radio Reference. Some of us should be able to help you but like @mmckenna stated, we need a better description of what your job will entail. Also, with respect to that job description, you might tell us a little about yourself as to your background with respect to the stated requirements. Telecommunications Coordinator can cover a lot of ground and we don’t want to guess what the big picture might be. Further, is the job strictly focused on a particular radio system or is it broader taking into account CAD/AVL, phone systems, etc.? You might tell us what market this job is in; e.g. Public Safety, Military, Commercial, Aviation, etc. The more we know, the better our comments will be pertaining to the job you are applying for. Best wishes to you!

 

[mmckenna]

I studied ionizing and non ionizing radiation in university, so I understand wavelength, frequency and amplitude. I have been interested in telecommunications because I am a prepper- so I would like to learn about this infrastructure more. Right not I have a technical admin job planning other infrastructure. I think that’s why they chose to interview me. It’s a good job. But I have 2 weeks to gather more understanding of telecom and emergency radio. I think they are putting emerg telecom digital or encrypted so it cannot be listened to by the public. So my job would be learning and helping to coordinate that change over

OK, so that job description sounds like what we would call a 'telecommunications analyst'. They are asking you to look at traffic logs, error logs, etc. and see if you can spot issues.

Trying to cram for that is 2 weeks is going to be some hard work.

Trunked radio systems work a lot like a telephone switch. A lot of users, a limited amount of paths for them to use. Studying traffic analysis in telecom circuits would cover some of this. You'll probably want to know about Erlangs (unit of measurement) at minimum.

The RF side is going to be a lot to learn in two weeks, but you might be able to pull it off.
You could start here and get as far as you can it the time you have:

Courses | Tait Radio Academy

www.taitradioacademy.com

Sounds like P25 trunking is what you need to focus on, but starting with the basics of conventional radio systems will help you lay the ground work.

Good luck to you. I've been doing this for a long time and I absolutely love my job. It's be really rewarding.

 

[Katiekatelynn]

OK, so that job description sounds like what we would call a 'telecommunications analyst'. They are asking you to look at traffic logs, error logs, etc. and see if you can spot issues.

Trying to cram for that is 2 weeks is going to be some hard work.

Trunked radio systems work a lot like a telephone switch. A lot of users, a limited amount of paths for them to use. Studying traffic analysis in telecom circuits would cover some of this. You'll probably want to know about Erlangs (unit of measurement) at minimum.

The RF side is going to be a lot to learn in two weeks, but you might be able to pull it off.
You could start here and get as far as you can it the time you have:

Courses | Tait Radio Academy

www.taitradioacademy.com

Sounds like P25 trunking is what you need to focus on, but starting with the basics of conventional radio systems will help you lay the ground work.

Good luck to you. I've been doing this for a long time and I absolutely love my job. It's be really rewarding.

Thank you very much!

 

[MTS2000des]

As someone who operates such a network for a living and has been in the industry since high school (early 1990s), there is so much that goes on to making it work. What mmckenna gave is a good starting point, but the tip of the iceberg.

Also, pro tip, don't go into the interview with the "keep the public from listening" mantra. It will be an instant turn off. A network is designed for it's users safety and preservation of life and minimizing risk to employees. That's what I would want to hear. Someone who walks in espousing anti-gov sentiment, no matter how slight, is an great way to see oneself out the door. Just saying.

 

[Katiekatelynn]

As someone who operates such a network for a living and has been in the industry since high school (early 1990s), there is so much that goes on to making it work. What mmckenna gave is a good starting point, but the tip of the iceberg.

Also, pro tip, don't go into the interview with the "keep the public from listening" mantra. It will be an instant turn off. A network is designed for it's users safety and preservation of life and minimizing risk to employees. That's what I would want to hear. Someone who walks in espousing anti-gov sentiment, no matter how slight, is a great way to see oneself out the door. Just saying.

I agree, the public having access to these telecom channels keeps the public safer, but I understand the flip side with confidentiality and also potentially deterring victims form calling in emergencies. It’s too early in my learning to subscribe to one side. I’m very curious to learn more.

 

[MTS2000des]

I agree, the public having access to these telecom channels keeps the public safer, but I understand the flip side with confidentiality and also potentially deterring victims form calling in emergencies. It’s too early in my learning to subscribe to one side. I’m very curious to learn more.

If your goal is to gain employment with presumably a public safety/gov, the only "side" is one of being a part of a team. Public safety radio does not exist for public entertainment or public information sources, it exists to enhance the safety of those using said systems. Let's be clear on this. The evolution of technology is such that the days of casual monitoring via over the air consumer devices are slowly sunsetting. It is not, nor ever has been a "right" for outside parties to eavesdrop. The nature of legacy technology allowed it.

If your interviewing for such a position, again, speaking from decades of experience, an interviewer wants to see and hear one who understands the concept, the concept of network security, integrity, robustness for the sole purpose of enhancing the end users' safety. It's that simple. Come through the door with some other ideologies and you will most likely be walking right out. Keep your personal feelings out of it. May sound harsh but I am being real here.

 

[mmckenna]

It’s too early in my learning to subscribe to one side. I’m very curious to learn more.

That's the right attitude.

I've been the hiring manager for all but one person on my staff. I don't look for one applicant that knows it all. I'm looking for the person that shows the aptitude for the job and shows that they are willing to learn, as well as the ability to get along with the rest of the team.
A lot of the job involves learning our specific ways of doing things, so sometimes the applicant with the most experience isn't our best choice. Some of the best people I've hired were those with some basic knowledge that expressed a strong desire to learn more. That gave me the opportunity to build them up the way we needed them.

My advice would be to learn the basics as well as you can. Go in humble and let them know that while you do not know all the answers, you do have the desire and aptitude to learn. Having the fire inside for the job ahead means a lot.

 

[MTS2000des]

Well said. Cannot emphasize that humility is one lost art, and a trait I put above many others. I don't expect one to be a "certificate queen or king", as many of those are fakes and frauds as I've found: I look for the one who genuinely wants to learn, grow and become their best.

Our current CAD administrator is one who rose up through the ranks as a call taker then dispatcher. She started with our agency in 2016 right out of college. Her previous experience IT wise was with the Geek Squad at Best Buy. She is one of the most humble, genuine people we've ever been graced with. In 9 years she made supervisor, got her APCO RPL, COM-T, COM-L, became a GA POST certified peace officer (police) and now administrates our CAD (picked up where I left off).

Her humility is why she shines. She knows when to "remain silent than to speak up and remove all doubt". She takes on challenges to find solutions on her own by self-initiating, she never complains and is "always ready and proud to serve". I don't want to utter her name on a public forum but those around here know who I speak of.

Be an asset, not a liability. Good luck.

 

[TampaTyron]

A few things from long time radio system builder/maintainer, but now manager of a large team doing design, install, repair, and maintenance of these systems (approx 100+ subordinates). The above info is very relevant.

If you don't know, say you don't know. Be able to separate fact from speculation. However, as a technical person, you take what you know to figure out what you don't know.

To expand on the "network" side, safety comes first. That means keeping the network up and healthy is a priority to keeping the users safe and those folks keeping the community safe. Not all issues are sudden and catastrophic. Being able to find irregularlarities in diagnostic reports is significant. Look at AC power failures, DC voltage differences, network drops, packet loss, building temperature differences, generator run time, fuel levels, interference alarms, VSWR/RL sweep failures, number of calls or call failures per site, user complaints, registration details, etc.

You may want to find out if the system is Motorola. They typically use Genesis monitoring tools, which would be a good start on how that system works. I am a commercial MOTOTRBO guy, so all Capacity Max/Cap Plus/LCP/IPSC and GW3 for me (not much large scale Moto public safety experience).

Keep in mind that you don't know in depth of these specific radio systems, but like any network, you know what the users expect. You know the network delivers services to the users. You know (or can reasonably find out) what it takes to keep the network up and running.

Radio systems are simple: coverage, capacity, and features. Don't let the users worry about if the radios will work when they hit the PTT button.

TT

 

[nokones]

You should know about the type of system you would be either managing or analyzing. The Telecommunications Budget drives the program for the fiscal year. Know what the total annual budget for current fiscal year is, you might be able to ascertain that information from the Budget Office. Try to find out if there is a TMAP (Telecommunications Management Action Plan) or a 5 or 10 year plan.

Know who the Telecomunications Section, Division, or whatever that Unit is called, interacts with externally besides the internally. If the Network/System encompasses a radio system be aware how frequency acquisitions occur.

Knowledge of Procuring equipment and contracting for services may be very important to know along with RFQs & RFPs, Bid Specifications and operational requirements.

The Organization Structure for who you will be working for could be very important.

If the position is a supervisory or a manager position, Affirmative Action/EEO along with Collective Bargaining and Adverse Action Investigations you may need to know.