Photo: The U.S. National Archives (No restrictions)
Job description
Answering a call is only part of it: the job often blends into general front-desk duty, greeting visitors, checking them in, issuing security badges, and paging employees to let them know someone's on the line or in the lobby. Some positions also handle light cash duties, like collecting payments or making bank deposits. Because calls and visitors arrive without warning, operators need to make quick decisions about how to route or handle each one, and dealing with an occasional frustrated caller comes with the territory.
Pros
- Standard, predictable hours (30-40 per week)
- Only a high school diploma and on-the-job training required to enter
- Straightforward, desk-based role with a defined, repeatable set of daily tasks
Cons
- Employment is projected to shrink dramatically over the next decade (-26.3%), one of the steepest declines in the catalog
- A relatively small and shrinking number of positions nationwide
- Regularly deals with frustrated callers while needing to make quick routing decisions
A typical day
The headset goes on at 8am and the first calls are already queued -- a caller needing the billing department, a delivery driver lost in the parking lot, a patient asking for a doctor's office by half its name. The morning is triage at conversational speed: listening past what people say to what they need, routing accurately, and taking clean messages for lines that don't pick up. Midday brings the front-desk overlap -- greeting a visitor mid-call, signing for a package with one hand. By close, several hundred calls have passed through, and the ones nobody remembers are the measure of a job done well.
Tasks at the job
- Operate communication systems, such as telephone, switchboard, intercom, two-way radio, or public address.
- Answer incoming calls, greeting callers, providing information, transferring calls or taking messages as necessary.
- Page individuals to inform them of telephone calls, using paging or interoffice communication equipment.
- Relay or route written or verbal messages.
- Greet visitors, log them in and out of the facility, assign them security badges, and contact employee escorts.
- Perform various cash handling tasks, such as collecting payments, making bank deposits, or managing petty cash.
Workplace & working conditions
Work happens indoors in a climate-controlled setting.
Decisions come up constantly and often need to be made quickly. You'll regularly deal with frustrated or upset people as part of the job.
Education necessary or common
High school diploma; some on-the-job training or apprenticeship
Related fields
Courses to take
- English -- clear, courteous speech is the whole job
- Computer applications -- phone systems, directories, and messaging software
- Business or office skills electives -- front-office procedure
- Spanish or another local language -- doubles your usefulness on day one
Clubs, activities & competitions
- Office aide or attendance-office helper at school
- A customer-service part-time job
- School receptionist duty for events or the front office
- Volunteer phone work for a nonprofit drive
First steps you can take now
- Practice professional phone habits -- answering, holding, transferring -- with a script
- Volunteer for reception duty anywhere that will have you
- Learn a scheduling or messaging tool used by real offices
- Ask an office manager what makes their best front-desk person valuable
