Telephone Operators build service orientation, social perceptiveness and complex problem solving skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Receptionists and Information Clerks (92%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Receptionists and Information Clerks | 92% | $38,010 | −9% | None |
| 2 | Office Clerks, General | 89% | $45,010 | +8% | None |
| 3 | Customer Service Representatives | 88% | $44,770 | +7% | None |
| 4 | Public Safety Telecommunicators | 84% | $53,040 | +27% | None |
| 5 | Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 83% | $47,540 | +14% | None |
| 6 | File Clerks | 83% | $43,600 | +4% | None |
| 7 | Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants | 82% | $45,930 | +10% | None |
| 8 | Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks | 81% | $49,230 | +18% | None |
| 9 | Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks | 81% | $44,390 | +6% | None |
| 10 | Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance | 80% | $50,340 | +21% | None |
Compared with Telephone Operators, median $41,740. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as telephone operators (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
92% skill match · $38,010 · −9% pay
Quality Control Analysis · Persuasion · Instructing
No work-context factor stands out as unusually hard in O*NET data.
89% skill match · $45,010 · +8% pay
Instructing · Negotiation · Quality Control Analysis
88% skill match · $44,770 · +7% pay
Negotiation · Persuasion · Instructing
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Receptionists and Information Clerks (92% skill match, median $38,010), Office Clerks, General (89% skill match, median $45,010) and Customer Service Representatives (88% skill match, median $44,770), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 18 pay more than telephone operators at the median. The biggest increases: Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel (+68%, $69,990), Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers (+41%, $58,650) and Public Safety Telecommunicators (+27%, $53,040).
24 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.