Dialing Up Dollars, Opportunities in telecom today are unrivaled
Atlanta Business Chronicle
March 29, 1999
Jeffrey Kagan
Whether you are an individual or an employer in
telecommunications, there has never been a more exciting time
to be in this business. No industry has seen as much change as
telecommunications in the past 10 years or so.
This change creates unrivaled opportunities for both individuals
and for companies. Some of the hottest competition in
telecommunications is for talented workers who can help the
competitors win in a changing marketplace.
With deregulation, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the
emergence of new companies, technologies and innovations,
there has never been a better time to be in this business. And,
there are more employment choices than just the phone
company.
The new players
BellSouth Corp. and AT&T Corp. are still the grand old players
and need new talent to take them into the future. And there are
still the competitors -- like MCI WorldCom Inc., Sprint Corp.
and other traditional long-distance companies -- that are
expanding their networks and services to take advantage of all
the new opportunities in a changing marketplace.
But there are also truckloads of opportunities from the new
breed of phone companies. The upstarts challenging the status
quo are doing their best to upset the apple cart and rewrite the
rules of the industry. These upstarts are companies like Equant,
Teligent and Qwest.
In addition, a wide variety of wireless companies -- like AT&T
Wireless, Sprint Wireless, Nextel and PowerTel -- are all of a
sudden taking Atlanta by storm.
Out with the old
One thing is clear -- in this fast-changing marketplace,
yesterday's leaders aren't guaranteed to be tomorrow's leaders.
The rules for thriving tomorrow are different from the rules for
thriving yesterday. That leaves a big opportunity for tuned-in
people with the sales, marketing, administrative and technical
talent to help the competitors compete and win.
This is an environment in which careers can be built. Today's
companies aren't seeking clock watchers, card punchers or
warm bodies to fill slots. They are looking for committed,
talented people who are willing to put the customer first and do
whatever it takes to keep the customer happy. They are looking
for workers who think and act like owners; people who will
care about the business, the company and the customers;
people who can help them explore new opportunities and solve
new problems in creative ways; people who are flexible and
agile and who don't mind a volatile and changing marketplace;
people who can zig when the competition zigs and zag when it
zags.
They want people who can help the company make the leap
from the phone company of yesterday to the phone company of
tomorrow, people who can help an upstart get off the ground.
The word "people" could be switched with "talent." Telecom
firms are willing to pay dearly for talent. They need talent.
Peripheral jobs
Beyond traditional telecom, the firms that serve them are
seeking talent. Public relations firms such GCI Atlanta, which
has worked with BellSouth for years, and Ketchum here in
Atlanta, which has worked for MCI for years, are the types
looking for talent.
It's the same with advertising agencies, executive search firms
and all sorts of other firms that serve the telecom sector.
The marketplace is changing. Competition is changing. The
companies are changing. The opportunities are changing. The
rules are changing. All that change creates incredible
opportunities for the competitors. This creates unbelievable
opportunity for talented, tuned-in people who want to make
their mark.
Kagan is an Atlanta-based communications industry consultant,
speaker and author.
E-mail Kagan at (edrachman@amcity.com).
Dialing Up Dollars appears twice-monthly.
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