How To Become A Telemarketing Sales Representative: What It Is and Career Path

What is a telemarketing sales representative and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Frederik Beuk,

John Cicala Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a telemarketing sales representative. For example, did you know that they make an average of $14.74 an hour? That's $30,668 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -4% and produce -105,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a telemarketing sales representative?

Frederik Beuk

Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Akron

The key consideration is whether you really want to maximize your initial salary. For instance, envision two job opportunities: one offering a salary of $50,000 per year, where you'd be the most junior team member, and the other providing $75,000 per year, with the caveat that you would be the sole sales representative for the firm. The optimal choice is to prioritize learning opportunities. In this context, being the lone salesperson for a company that compensates its highest-earning sales professional $75,000 might not be your superior option. Instead, seek a position that offers the greatest potential for learning. Subsequently, demonstrate your negotiating prowess, a critical sales skill, by securing a slightly higher salary. However, it's essential not to fixate on maximizing your starting salary. Your career requires a long-term strategy, and you have several decades ahead of you to maximize income.

ScoreTelemarketing Sales RepresentativeUS Average

Salary

2.4

Avg. Salary $30,668

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate -4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.89%

Asian 3.93%

Black or African American 17.79%

Hispanic or Latino 17.79%

Unknown 3.52%

White 56.07%

Gender

female 58.01%

male 41.99%

Age - 33

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 33

Stress level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.0

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a telemarketing sales representative

Explore telemarketing sales representative education requirements

Most common telemarketing sales representative degrees

High School Diploma

37.0 %

Bachelor's

25.5 %

Associate

19.9 %

Start to develop specific telemarketing sales representative skills

Skills	Percentages
Telephone Calls	19.95%
Telemarketing	16.65%
Computer System	8.41%
Product Knowledge	7.22%
Cold Calls	5.55%

Complete relevant telemarketing sales representative training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New telemarketing sales representatives learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a telemarketing sales representative based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real telemarketing sales representative resumes.

Research telemarketing sales representative duties and responsibilities

Contact alumni to request donations and pledges focuse on achieving university goals and objectives.
Solicit sales using exceptional interpersonal skills while performing under fast-pace, high-pressure conditions on Telesales floor.
Record gather information in database while moving customer through sales process and maintain confidentiality of customer information.
Perform telemarketing duties for online advertisement/marketing

Prepare your telemarketing sales representative resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your telemarketing sales representative resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a telemarketing sales representative resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable telemarketing sales representative resume templates

Build a professional telemarketing sales representative resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your telemarketing sales representative resume.