 As a Marconi employee, Cottam was subsequently assigned as a telegraphist at the British post office where, on separate occasions, he met and befriended both Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, who would later become the "Titanic"s wireless operators.He also served as the wireless operator aboard the SS "Medic", on which he made two voyages from Liverpool to Sydney, Australia.Cottam had been employed by the Marconi Company for three years before joining the crew of the "Carpathia" in February 1912 as the ship's sole wireless operator.