How To Become A Telephone Operator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a telephone operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

You might think telephone switchboards are a thing of the past, with all the automated and computerized processes going around, but the position of telephone operators still exists in our day in age. Perhaps not plugging calls into a cord board, but telephone operators still help customers use telephone company services, place calls, and reach the desired receivers.

Working for large corporations, hospitals, hotels, or universities that have their own internal phone systems, telephone operators manage multiple lines to route calls quickly and efficiently. Telecommunications companies, logistics services, dispatch centers, or call centers are places where today's telephone operators may find employment.

No matter how addicted we have become to efficiency and productivity, sometimes a human voice just remains irreplaceable. You can become a telephone operator with on-the-job training, so if you love talking to people and have great organizational skills, contributing to people making connections with each other could be the rewarding job you have been looking for.

ScoreTelephone OperatorUS Average

Salary

2.4

Avg. Salary $31,168

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.40%

Asian 3.64%

Black or African American 13.45%

Hispanic or Latino 16.25%

Unknown 8.12%

White 57.14%

Gender

female 77.55%

male 22.45%

Age - 41

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 - 41

Stress level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.1

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.3

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a telephone operator

Explore telephone operator education requirements

Most common telephone operator degrees

High School Diploma

33.7 %

Bachelor's

26.0 %

Associate

22.9 %

Start to develop specific telephone operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	21.44%
Emergency Calls	9.27%
Customer Service	8.36%
Phone Calls	7.00%
Telephone Calls	6.65%

Complete relevant telephone operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New telephone operators 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 telephone operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real telephone operator resumes.

Research telephone operator duties and responsibilities

Operate office equipment including, but not limit to, computers, PBX system, fax machine, e-mail.
Programme various PBX computer operate phone system base request such as wake up calls, flight reminders and tour times.
Provide access to telephone interpreters services for visitors and patients with limit English experience highlights.
Input patients personal information into a database, then contact physicians to give patient information.

Prepare your telephone operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your telephone operator 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 telephone operator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable telephone operator resume templates

Build a professional telephone operator 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 telephone operator resume.