SOC 41-9041.00

    Telemarketers

    Solicit donations or orders for goods or services over the telephone.

    Median pay
    $35,450
    Growth
    -21.4%
    Decline
    Openings a year
    5,800
    Typical education
    No formal credential

    Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition

    Source: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections

    See the pathway

    Annual pay range

    Lowest 10% earn less than
    $27,040
    Median
    $35,450
    Highest 10% earn more than
    $50,350
    National wages for all workers in this occupation. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

    58,430 people work in this occupation.

    What telemarketers do

    Job Zone 2: Some preparation

    Solicit donations or orders for goods or services over the telephone.

    Usually a high school diploma; some on-the-job training or experience.

    Interest profile

    Realistic (R)
    15 / 100
    Investigative (I)
    2 / 100
    Artistic (A)
    4 / 100
    Social (S)
    44 / 100
    Enterprising (E) · strongest
    73 / 100
    Conventional (C)
    68 / 100
    How strongly each interest area describes the work, from O*NET (scores rescaled to 0–100). The interest code lists the strongest areas in order.

    Interest code ECS. Compare it with yours

    What you'd do

    Selling or Influencing Others
    96
    Communicating with People Outside the Organization
    87
    Getting Information
    84
    Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
    80
    Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
    79
    Processing Information
    77
    Making Decisions and Solving Problems
    76
    Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
    75
    Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
    74
    Analyzing Data or Information
    70
    Work activities rated by importance for this occupation, O*NET (0–100).

    Skills and strengths

    Skills

    • Persuasion
    • Speaking
    • Active Listening
    • Service Orientation
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Social Perceptiveness
    • Critical Thinking
    • Negotiation
    • Coordination
    • Writing

    Knowledge

    • Sales and Marketing
    • Customer and Personal Service
    • English Language
    • Administration and Management
    • Computers and Electronics
    • Communications and Media
    • Administrative
    • Law and Government
    • Telecommunications
    • Mathematics

    Abilities

    • Oral Comprehension
    • Oral Expression
    • Speech Clarity
    • Speech Recognition
    • Selective Attention
    • Written Comprehension
    • Near Vision
    • Problem Sensitivity
    • Deductive Reasoning
    • Written Expression

    Work styles

    • Social Orientation
    • Optimism
    • Perseverance
    • Self-Control
    • Achievement Orientation
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Dependability
    • Self-Confidence
    • Attention to Detail
    • Integrity

    Also called

    Call Agent · Call Center Agent · Call Center Operator · Call Center Representative (Call Center Rep) · Call Center Sales Agent · Call Center Telemarketer · Contact Center Agent · Direct Sales Agent · Donation Worker · Inbound Call Center Agent

    CareerOneStop

    Certifications, licenses and pay by state

    What telemarketers may need beyond a degree, where a license is required, and what the work pays in each state.

    Certifications

    Core certifications employers recognise for this work.

    Search all certifications on CareerOneStop

    Licenses by state

    1 state lists a license for this work. Open your state for the license and the agency that issues it.

    • North Carolina1 license

      • Telephone Seller Registration and Bond

        Business Registration, NC Department of the Secretary of State

    Check license requirements on CareerOneStop

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 6, 2026.

    Your plan

    Build my pathway plan

    Courses, majors, colleges, scholarships and a timeline for this career, built from your profile.

    Related careers

    Careers with similar work, interests or skills.

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    Sources and attribution

    Every figure on this page comes from these public datasets. Missing values are shown as not reported, never estimated.

    O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. CollegesRef has modified all or some of this information.

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 6, 2026.

    Page data updated November 5, 2026.