Office and Administrative Support · Holland code CSE

Telephone Operators

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.

Also called: 411 Directory Assistance Operator (411 Directory Assistance Op), Directory Assistance Operator (Directory Assistance Op), Phone Operator (Telephone Operator), TELECOM Op (Telecommunications Operator), Information Specialist, Live Source Operator (Live Source Op), Long Distance Operator (LD Operator), PBX Operator (Post Box Exchange Operator).

O*NET 43-2021.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $41,740; Middle half earn $36,920 to $51,510. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 98% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Observe signal lights on switchboards, and dial or press buttons to make connections.
Operate paging systems or other systems of bells or buzzers to notify recipients of incoming calls.
Operate telephone switchboards and systems to advance and complete connections, including those for local, long distance, pay telephone, mobile, person-to-person, and emergency calls.
Listen to customer requests, referring to alphabetical or geographical directories to answer questions and provide telephone information.
Monitor automated systems for placing collect calls and intervene for a callers needing assistance.
Update directory information.
Suggest and check alternate spellings, locations, or listing formats to customers lacking details or complete information.
Perform clerical duties such as typing, proofreading, and sorting mail.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.0 / 5
Critical Thinking3.0 / 5
Monitoring2.8 / 5
Writing2.3 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service4.2 / 5
Telecommunications3.8 / 5
Administrative3.6 / 5
English Language3.2 / 5
Computers and Electronics3.1 / 5
Administration and Management2.6 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic37
Investigative2
Artistic0
Social51
Enterprising39
Conventional87

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

call centre manager · DE Call-Center-Manager/Call-Center-Managerin · FR responsable de centre d’appels
crisis helpline operator · DE Telefonberater Krisen und Notlagen/Telefonberaterin Krisen und Notlagen · FR écoutant social/écoutante sociale
typist · DE Textypist/Textypistin · FR dactylographe
customer contact centre information clerk · DE Kundeninformationsfachkraft · FR agent d’information de centre de contact clients/agente d’information de centre de contact clients
live chat operator · DE Online-Kundenberater/Online-Kundenberaterin · FR conseiller en ligne/conseillère en ligne
telephone switchboard operator · DE Telefonist Telefonzentrale/Telefonistin Telefonzentrale · FR standardiste

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Travel agency managers and proprietors (1225)10,400 employed
Garage managers and proprietors (1252)17,700 employed
Hairdressing and beauty salon managers and proprietors (1253)20,400 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Clerical support workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Clerical support workers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€40,035
Austria	€38,296
Germany	€37,844
Netherlands	€35,854
Sweden	€33,483
Ireland	€32,144
Italy	€29,311
France	€25,943
Spain	€22,026
Portugal	€12,602
Poland	€10,250

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.02. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (43-2021).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test