Telemarketing Jobs in the United States

Telemarketing Jobs Overview

Telemarketers sell products and services to potential buyers and upsell to existing clients over the phone. They sometimes work for commission-based salaries and usually use scripts for their pitches. You can find telemarketing jobs in every industry, with many working in the home security system, magazine subscription, education, charitable, and telecommunication sectors.

The industry you work in influences the types of calls that you make. However, your basic duties and objectives as a telemarketer are:

• Making unsolicited calls to potential customers or donors using a provided phone list.
• Responding to calls from potential new clients and upselling to current customers.
• Using scripts to explain the benefits, costs, and other details of your product or service.
• Getting to know the customer's needs by asking the right questions.
• Directing phone calls to the sales division after securing new orders.

In this role, you'll likely work short shifts of four or five hours each a few days a week. Some positions require employees to work on nights and weekends. The typical workweek in telemarketing is between 24 and 30 hours, which makes it a great option if you're seeking part-time employment.

Telemarketers work mainly for major corporations or telemarketing companies. They usually work out of call centers or home offices. Entry-level telemarketing jobs usually require a high school diploma or GED.

Telemarketer: Salary Range

The median hourly wage for telemarketers is $14.61, with salaries ranging from $12.02 to $25.07 an hour. Keep in mind that cities with a higher demand for telemarketers tend to have higher-paying positions For example, Los Angeles and Houston offer median salaries of $15.35 and $14.88 per hour, respectively.

You can find higher-paying telemarketing jobs in related roles, including:

• email marketing specialist - $54,506 per year
• call center sales representative - $32,152 per year
• telesales representative - $34,419 per year
• inbound sales specialist - $38,326 per year

Want to find out how much your telemarketing skills are worth? Check out the Monster salary calculator now.

Finding Telemarketing Jobs That Fit You

Having a plan in place for your career can help you achieve success as a telemarketer. Some of the most common career goals among telemarketers are:

• Finding work-from-home telemarketing jobs.
• Securing a high-paying position.
• Becoming a channel sales manager.
• Working in call center management.

Use these tips when reading job descriptions for telemarketing jobs to help you achieve your career goals:

• Does this position allow me to work from home, or do I need to report to an office or call center?
• What is the top salary for the position?
• Can I advance to a management-level role?
• What telemarketing skills do I need to successfully fill the job?
• Does the employer provide on-the-job training?

Application Advice for Telemarketing Jobs

Your application is usually the first point of contact that you have with an employer. This is why it's so important to confirm that your application, including your resume and cover letter, is free of typos and errors. Use the advice provided below to submit competitive applications for telemarketing jobs.

Application Preparation

Job listings provide information you can use to determine whether a position is a good fit for your career goals. Make sure the hiring manager sees that you have the skills and qualities specified in a job description by using them naturally in the application itself.

Here are some skills and abilities to highlight on your resume:

• active listening
• customer service
• voicemail technique
• telephone call handling
• customer relationship management software
• politeness

Create a Powerful Resume

Your resume makes it easy for potential employers to evaluate how your background in telemarketing can benefit their operation. An effective resume highlights your accomplishments and conveys your personal narrative of success.

Keep things simple and to the point in your resume. Use the advice below to create a competitive resume:

• Include separate sections for your goals, skills, previous work experience, and education.
• Follow a functional resume format if you don't have any telemarketing experience.
• Showcase extensive prior telemarketing experience using a chronological resume format.
• Use a mixed resume format if you have impressive employment experience in addition to stellar telemarketing abilities and credentials.

Call centers and other businesses hiring telemarketers often use applicant tracking systems (ATS). The algorithms in these pieces of software prioritize applications and resumes that include certain phrases. This is why it's crucial to include telemarketing-specific resume keywords, such as:

• contact centers
• administrative assistant
• telecommunications
• user research
• customer support
• Microsoft Access
• informatics
• receptionist duties
• typing
• scheduling
• clerical
• data entry

Need help writing a resume that effectively shows your telemarketing experience and skills? Use the Monster Professional Resume Writing Service.

Write a Custom Cover Letter

Submitting a custom cover letter with your application helps you put your best foot forward professionally and emphasizes your most impressive attributes as a telemarketer. Keep these tips in mind when creating your cover letter:

• Explain how your telemarketing expertise can help the employer.
• Describe why the position aligns with your professional goals.
• Say how many years of telemarketing experience you have.
• State your willingness to work more than part-time if the employer needs you to.
• Reference a few of the skills you listed in your resume

Submit the Application

With so many remote positions available, you can join Monster to easily find telemarketing jobs across the country. Many call centers and other employers use our platform to find qualified candidates for vacant positions. Monster equips you with powerful career-related tools and information, allowing you to pursue a range of telemarketer jobs in various industries.

Application Follow-Up

Hiring managers are more likely to remember your application if you send a follow-up note about a week after applying for a job. Read the job listing again to find the recruiter or hiring manager's email address.

Ways to Follow Up

The company's norms and the details of the position itself should determine your choice of follow-up. Most hiring professionals prefer email follow-ups because they provide the most convenience in regard to responding.

When sending a follow-up for a telemarketing position, consider using one of the following subject lines to persuade the hiring manager to click on your email:

• Follow-up for telemarketer position.
• Have you reviewed my application for the telemarketer position?
• Follow-up for [name here]'s application for telemarketer.
• Job applicant follow-up for telemarketer position.

Interview Tips for Telemarketing Jobs

Telemarketers usually participate in one to two interviews before receiving a job offer. Below we present some strategies that you can use to help you succeed in telemarketing job interviews.

Before the Interview

Use these tips to feel more confident as you approach an upcoming telemarketer interview:

• Set up mock job interviews with a pal.
• Think of questions you can ask the interviewer to show your enthusiasm.
• Print copies of your documents to bring with you to the interview.

When doing mock interviews, practice answering questions like these:

• Can you tell me about your background with databases?
• How do you deal with irate clients?
• What is your method for setting priorities and organizing your time?
• What exactly is deceptive telemarketing?
• Do you prefer to handle inbound or outbound calls?
• How do you deal with demanding customers?
• Which performance criteria do you have experience meeting?

During the Interview

When a company representative contacts you for an interview, ask whether it will be a competency-based interview that focuses on your skills or behavioral-based, centered around your work ethic. Knowing the format of the interview significantly improves your ability to perform well.

Use these tips for acing telemarketer interviews:

• Provide concrete instances from your own life that demonstrate your past experience in telemarketing.
• Explain your accomplishments and contributions using the STAR framework.
• Express yourself politely, answering questions with confidence and clarity.
• Maintain good posture to communicate interest and concentration; lean slightly forward, especially when the interviewer speaks, communicate sincere curiosity, and smile throughout the interview to showcase your genuine desire to fill the position.
• Use the job ad to identify the core competencies that the job requires, such as cold calling and appointment scheduling, and create a narrative to demonstrate how you meet each of them.
• Take notes relating to the required job duties, salary, and perks to review later.

After the Interview

Use the notes you created during the interview to write a powerful letter of appreciation to the interviewer. Always send the follow-up letter within 24 hours after the interview, and include the following:

• Thank the interviewer for considering you for the position.
• If you’ve thought of any questions since the interview, ask them now.
• Include your contact information at the end of the message so that the hiring manager can call or email you with questions or a job offer.

Responding to Telemarketing Job Offers

First, take a moment to congratulate yourself on being the employer's choice! Before accepting a job offer, though, carefully review the offer, giving specific attention to the wage, promotion opportunities, location, and work-from-home options.

If you have questions about the job, check the offer to see if it lists contact information for the person who made you the offer. If it doesn't, contact the employer's HR department and ask to speak with the supervisor in charge of hiring. Don't accept an offer until all your questions are answered.

Questions to ask regarding job offers for telemarketing positions include:

• What is the start date?
• Is there a probationary period before you become an actual employee?
• How long will the company need this position?
• What sort of positions can I advance to in the future?
• Is there any room to negotiate my salary?
• Does the role require me to be in the office at all times, or can I perform some of the work from home?
• Do you offer any software training?

Career Paths for Telemarketers

Liking your job is essential to your productivity and overall motivation to go to work. Your telemarketing knowledge and abilities can lead you down many fulfilling career paths, including:

• Call center representative: Use scripts to maintain a fast response rate during numerous incoming and outbound calls and deal with a range of problems, including customer complaints, concerns about items, and how to handle returns.
• Customer service advisor: Provide information on goods and services, take orders, process payments, respond to customer complaints, and troubleshoot technological difficulties in an effective and timely way in order to answer customer inquiries and handle customer issues.
• Remote data entry: Work from home inputting, organizing, verifying, and updating data into the appropriate file system according to its format, such as a PDF, Word, or Excel spreadsheet, and by comparing new data to present new findings that your employer can use to make smarter business decisions.
• Master scheduler: Create rules and schedules that a business can follow to drive its manufacturing processes, and collect data from all departments to help prepare schedules that aim to allow all projects to reach completion on time.
• Sales assistant: Assist customers in finding items, making purchases, and placing holds, and stock the shelves.

Telemarketing Jobs: Related Professions

Your expertise in telemarketing can also serve as a springboard to numerous closely related professions:

• fundraising consultant
• marketing analyst
• marketing communications coordinator
• pharmaceutical sales
• product marketing