Career
Telemarketers
Sell products and services by phone.
$35,450
Median pay
-21.4%
Job growth, 2025–35
5,800
Openings a year
No formal educational credential
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Contact businesses or private individuals by telephone to solicit sales for goods or services, or to request donations for charitable causes.
- Obtain customer information such as name, address, and payment method, and enter orders into computers.
- Explain products or services and prices, and answer questions from customers.
- Record names, addresses, purchases, and reactions of prospects contacted.
- Maintain records of contacts, accounts, and orders.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on persuasion & leadership, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Contact businesses or private individuals by telephone to solicit sales for goods or services, or to request donations for charitable causes.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Speaking, Persuasion, Active Listening, Service Orientation.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though short-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $35,450 a year and 5,800 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- NO MATCHCIP 99.9999
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel$69,990 · +2.7%
- Customer Service Representatives$44,770 · -5.3%
- Advertising Sales Agents$64,820 · -7.2%
- Counter and Rental Clerks$41,300 · +3.0%
- Receptionists and Information Clerks$38,010 · -1.7%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.