Cabler (Data and Telecommunications)
What the work is
Installs internal telecommunications and data cabling, equipment and peripherals for computer networks, telephony, cable television and monitored security and fire alarms.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Installs and connects cables to distribution frames, cabinets and other telecommunications equipment
- Identifies, locates and rectifies faults in data and telecommunications cable installations
- Sets up and configures data communication systems, local area networks and wireless communication networks
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a telecommunications crew installing and repairing phone and internet lines, towers and cabling across a country region. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A farm that has been offline for a week gets its connection back and calls you a legend
- You trace a fault in a pit by the roadside and the whole street's lines come alive
- A building full of neat, labelled cables that anyone could follow in ten years' time
Hard days
- Working on a pole or in a pit in the rain with no signal on your own phone
- Customers who have been disconnected for days and are, quite fairly, furious
- Finding that someone dug through the cable you needed, and did not report it
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 382331, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.