Career-PathGPS
← All education and training
Career

Telephone Operators

Typical education: High school diplomaModerate pressure

What they do

Provide information by accessing alphabetical, geographical, or other directories. Assist customers with special billing requests, such as charges to a third party and credits or refunds for incorrectly dialed numbers or bad connections. May handle emergency calls and assist children or people with physical disabilities to make telephone calls.

Kinds of work

  • Conventional: Organizing information, following clear procedures and working with data and details.
  • Social: Helping, teaching, caring for and supporting other people.

Moderate pressure: How much pressure workers in this job report: deadlines, conflict, dealing with upset people, the cost of mistakes, responsibility for others' safety, competition and long hours. It varies a lot from one employer to the next. Source: U.S. Department of Labor worker surveys.

Pay, tasks and more

Salary

United States $41,740 Median per year · $20.07/hr Most earn $31,510–$62,950

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025.

What you might do

  • Suggest and check alternate spellings, locations, or listing formats to customers lacking details or complete information.
  • Operate paging systems or other systems of bells or buzzers to notify recipients of incoming calls.
  • Monitor automated systems for placing collect calls and intervene for a callers needing assistance.
  • Interrupt busy lines if an emergency warrants.
  • Promote company products, services, and savings plans when appropriate.
  • Observe signal lights on switchboards, and dial or press buttons to make connections.

Job outlook

United States
28% fewer jobs by 2035, declining · about 200 openings a year

Openings include new jobs and jobs left by workers who retire or change careers. Projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Bright Outlook": U.S. Department of Labor.

Where they work

  • General medical and surgical hospitals29.2%
  • Offices of physicians16.5%
  • Telecommunications7.9%
  • Local government, excluding education and hospitals6.8%
  • Elementary and secondary schools6.5%

Share of all workers in this career. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Employment Matrix.

Experience before this job: 1 to 2 years

Some people start through an apprenticeship: paid training on the job, often with classes. Search apprenticeships on Apprenticeship.gov (opens in a new tab) ↗

Career path

How people usually get into this career, from school to their first job and beyond.

Typical education: High school diplomaExperience before this job: 1 to 2 years

Telephone operator is usually not a straight-out-of-school job. Most people first spend about 1 to 2 years in a related customer-facing role, so expect roughly 1 to 2 years of work experience after high school or college before this job.

  1. High school diploma

    4 years

    Finish high school with strong reading, writing, math, and computer skills, since this job depends on clear speaking and accurate typing and record-keeping.

  2. Customer Service Representative

    1-2 years

    Answer customer calls and questions, look up account information, and solve problems politely, which builds the phone manners and records skills telephone operators use every day.

  3. Telephone Operator

    Ongoing

    Help callers with directory assistance, third-party billing, billing credits for bad connections or wrong numbers, and emergency calls, and help children or people with disabilities place their calls.

Where it can lead

  1. Dispatcher

    1-2 years of experience first

    Move from routing general calls to coordinating the sending of vehicles, crews, or services, which requires quick decisions and familiarity with dispatch procedures.

  2. Customer Service Supervisor

    3-5 years of experience first

    Lead a team of phone staff, handle escalated calls, train new workers, and track team performance, which usually takes strong communication and some leadership experience.

What you can do now

Ideas for high school and college students.

In high school

  • Take English and speaking-focused classesClear speaking and writing are the core skills for answering calls and explaining billing or directory information.
  • Take a keyboarding or computer classFast, accurate typing helps you look up records and enter account details during calls.
  • Get a part-time job in customer serviceA cashier, food service, or front-desk job teaches you to stay calm and helpful with many different people.
  • Volunteer at a library or community help deskHelping people find information builds the directory and research habits this job needs.
  • Join a debate or drama clubPublic speaking practice makes it easier to stay clear and friendly on the phone.

In college

  • Take courses in communication or customer serviceClasses in communication, public speaking, or customer relations build the skills used in phone-based service work.
  • Get a campus job at a front desk, help line, or information deskCampus jobs with phone or in-person customer contact give you the 1 to 2 years of related experience this career usually asks for.
  • Build typing and basic office software skillsStrong computer skills help you work quickly with account systems and records.
  • Join a student organization that serves the publicVolunteering or leading a club event shows employers you can handle people's questions calmly.
  • Consider a certificate in customer service or office skillsMany schools and community colleges offer short certificates that can strengthen an application for service roles.

Tips for getting started

  • Look for part-time work at a store, front desk, or call center. Customer-facing experience is the kind of background employers look for before a phone-based job.
  • Practice clear speaking and fast, accurate typing. Free typing practice sites and a keyboarding class can help a lot.
  • I don't have job outlook or local hiring data for this career, so check current job postings in your area to see how often telephone operator roles appear.

Related jobs that often lead here

Related jobs a step up

Education, experience and related careers: U.S. Department of Labor. The step-by-step path, where it can lead and what you can do now were written by AI as typical examples; many people take other ways.

Related careers