Telemarketer
Telemarketers call people on behalf of a business to sell a product, promote a service or ask for a donation, working from a script and a list of numbers.
- Median salary*
- $49,300
4.2%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 5,500
0.0%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +5.4%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- High
- automation risk
- Average hours
- 40/wk
matches all-jobs average
- Shortage status*
- Not in shortage
national
Telemarketers work from call centres or from home, dialling through lists supplied by the business or client they are calling for rather than waiting for calls to come in as a customer service agent does. Most calls follow a script or a set of approved talking points, and each one is logged in a dialer or CRM system that records whether it led to a sale, a callback or a hang-up. The main employers are firms in professional and technical services, administrative support businesses and utilities, often selling on behalf of a client rather than their own company.
How much do telemarketers earn?
The median full-time salary for a telemarketer is $49,300 per annum, before tax, up $10,300 since 2018.
Base pay usually follows the award or enterprise agreement covering the employer, so the sector you sell for and the size of the operation matter more than the job title. Commission, bonuses and incentive payments are what separate a strong week from a weak one, and a role selling insurance or solar can pay well above base when targets are met while scripted appointment setting often pays base only. Casual and part-time positions are common and carry casual loading instead of paid leave, which changes the take-home figure for the same hourly rate.
What does a telemarketer do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Working through a supplied call list or dialer queue to reach new and existing customers
- Delivering the scripted pitch and adjusting the tone when the person on the other end sounds rushed or annoyed
- Logging call outcomes, objections and lead details into a CRM straight after each call
- Handling objections and hang-ups with approved rebuttals, since most calls end without a sale
- Meeting daily and weekly call and conversion targets that a team leader reviews each shift
What skills do telemarketers need?
Employers look for selling and negotiation, account and relationship management, backed by Dialer software (AVAYA, Five9, Genesys) fluency and strong written communication.
Specialist skills
- Selling and negotiation
- Account and relationship management
Software and tools
- Dialer software (AVAYA, Five9, Genesys)
- CRM systems (Salesforce, HubSpot)
- Call recording software
- Spreadsheets and call-tracking databases
General skills
- Written communication
- Customer service
- Time and deadline management
- Problem solving
Is the job growing?
About 5,500 people work as telemarketers in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 5.4% over the decade to 2035. That's modest growth: demand is steady rather than booming.
How do you become a telemarketer?
Here's the path most telemarketers take, step by step.
- 1Finish Year 12 or build some customer service experience
No qualification is required for most telemarketing roles, and the most common level of education among people doing the job is Year 12 or below, held by 48% of the workforce. Retail, hospitality or any work that involves talking to strangers gives you something concrete to point to at interview.
- 2Apply to call centres and in-house sales teams
The largest employers are outsourced contact centres and sales teams attached to professional services, administrative support and utility businesses. Roles are often advertised as part-time or casual with evening shifts, so check the roster before accepting.
- 3Complete the paid induction and compliance training
Most employers run a week or two of training on the script, the dialer and the CRM, plus the rules covering the Do Not Call Register, privacy and Australian Consumer Law. You are usually paid for this, and you are not expected to know the product beforehand.
- 4Keep your own record of calls and conversions
Conversion numbers are what decide which campaign or team you are offered next, and the reports your team leader sees do not always show the difficult calls that led to a result. Ask for feedback on recorded calls while you are still learning.
- 5Add a qualification if you want to specialise
A Certificate III in Business (BSB30120) or Retail, or a short course in sales, helps when you apply for roles selling a technical product or managing accounts. Beyond that, the usual progression is into sales representative or account management work rather than further study.
Ready to apply as a telemarketer?
Whether you're working toward becoming a telemarketer or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can a telemarketer move to?
Moving into Customer Experience Manager typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $65,400 a year more on average.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Experience Manager Telemarketers bring frontline customer insight to customer experience manager roles, requiring reskilling in team leadership and strategy.Known move | +$65,400 | 17% | reskill |
| Digital Marketing Specialist Telemarketers bring direct sales and customer engagement skills to digital marketing specialist roles, requiring reskilling in campaign tools and analytics.Known move | +$52,500 | 22% | reskill |
| Sales Representative Telemarketers bring proven phone sales and objection handling skills to sales representative roles with minimal retraining.Known move | +$38,700 | 91% | minimal |
| Call Centre Operator Telemarketers bring phone-based customer service and sales experience to call centre operator roles, requiring reskilling in new systems and processes.Known move | +$15,700 | 33% | reskill |
| Administration Officer Telemarketers bring communication and clerical skills to administration officer roles, requiring reskilling in office procedures.Known move | +$8,900 | 27% | reskill |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as a telemarketer?
The typical telemarketer is 39 years old; 54% are men, 60% work full-time, and full-timers average 40 hours a week.
- 39
- Median age
- 46%
- Female share
- 60%
- Full-time
- +0h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a telemarketer?
The job runs to a clock. Shifts are built around call targets and the hours when people are most likely to answer, so late afternoons and evenings are common and breaks are scheduled. Progress is unusually visible, because the dialer counts every call and every sale, and the pressure comes from that measurement rather than from the difficulty of any single conversation. It suits people who can stay steady through a run of refusals and who like knowing exactly where they stand by the end of a shift.
What people like
- Results you can see by the end of a shift. Call counts and conversion rates are reported constantly, so you know how you are going without waiting for a formal review.
- You can start without a degree or experience. Employers hire on phone manner and availability and train you on the product, which makes this one of the few sales roles genuinely open to school leavers and career changers.
- Fast feedback on what works. You run the same conversation dozens of times a day, so objection handling improves here faster than in most other sales jobs.
- The campaign can change the whole feel of the work. Selling business software and asking for charity donations are very different conversations, and moving between campaigns is usually easier than changing employers.
What people find hard
- Most calls end in no. Even strong performers hear refusals all day, and some calls end the moment you introduce yourself, which is the part of the job new starters find hardest.
- Scripts and monitoring. Calls are recorded, timed and scored, and you may not be able to move far from the approved wording even when a customer's question deserves a straight answer.
- Targets that reset every shift. Daily call and conversion goals are set by the campaign, and falling short over several days usually brings a conversation with your team leader.
- Evening and weekend rosters. The people most likely to pick up are at home after work, so shifts often run into the late afternoon and evening, and part-time or casual hours are the norm.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ telemarketers?
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services employs the largest share of telemarketers, followed by Administrative and Support Services.
Top employing industries
- 1Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
- 2Administrative and Support Services
- 3Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Year 12 or below | 47.7% | |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate III/IV | 15.4% | |
| Bachelor degree | 14.7% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 11.8% | |
| Postgraduate | 4.7% |
Will AI replace telemarketers?
Telemarketing sits at the high end of AI exposure, because the dialling, list management and call scoring that structure the day are already automated. Predictive dialers decide which numbers to call and when, speech analytics review recorded calls, and conversational voice assistants now run simple outbound campaigns such as reminders and renewals. What stays with a person is the harder end of the conversation, where a customer pushes back in a way the script does not anticipate or wants to negotiate.
Share of typical working time by exposure level
- Dialling through the call listPredictive dialers already choose the number, time the connect and skip answering machines, so most of this part of the shift runs without a person touching it.30%high
- Handling objections and closing the saleWorking out why someone said no, answering a question the script does not cover and finding terms that get a yes still depend on a person listening and responding in the moment.30%low
- Delivering the scripted pitchVoice assistants can read a standard offer and take a booking or payment for simple campaigns, and compliance tools score how closely a human followed the approved wording.20%high
- Logging outcomes and setting callbacksSpeech-to-text and CRM automation can write call notes and schedule the next contact, though someone still checks the record when a lead is valuable or the details are messy.20%moderate
Common questions about becoming a telemarketer
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much does a telemarketer earn in Australia?
Full-time telemarketers earn a median of $49,300 per annum before tax, and commission or bonuses can lift that in roles with a sales target. Base rates follow the award or enterprise agreement covering the employer, so the sector you sell for affects earnings at least as much as your conversion rate.
How do you become a telemarketer?
No formal qualification is needed. Employers look for a clear phone manner, basic computer skills and availability for the shifts they run, and most provide paid script and compliance training before you take live calls. A Certificate III in Business (BSB30120) or Retail can help if you are applying to a larger employer or a role selling a technical product.
Are telemarketers in demand?
Telemarketers are currently not in shortage, and employment is projected to grow 5.4% over the decade to 2035. Positions sit mostly inside call centres and outsourced sales teams, so openings tend to be advertised by a small number of large employers rather than spread across many small businesses. It pays to look beyond the title, since the same work is often advertised as outbound sales consultant or appointments officer.
Will AI replace telemarketers?
Telemarketing sits at the high end of AI exposure, because auto-dialers already decide which numbers to call, speech analytics scores recorded calls, and voice assistants run simple outbound campaigns such as appointment reminders and renewals. Scripted, high-volume calling is the part most easily automated. What holds up is the difficult end of a sales conversation, where a customer raises an objection the script does not cover, asks for a discount or wants to negotiate terms, so roles that lean on those skills are more durable than ones that only read a pitch.
What can a telemarketer move into?
Sales representative roles use the same phone selling and objection handling, and pay is $38,700 more. Call centre operator work keeps you on the phone but shifts the focus to service rather than sales, with pay $15,700 more, while administration officer roles suit people who want to leave phone sales behind and pay is $8,900 more. Each of those moves needs different things, so the right one depends on whether you want to keep selling.
What rules do telemarketers have to follow?
Calls must be screened against the Do Not Call Register unless the business has an existing relationship with the person or an exemption applies, and Australian Consumer Law and privacy rules govern how contact details are used. Employers cover this in induction training along with the script. Penalties for breaking the rules generally fall on the business rather than the individual caller.
Related roles
- Call Centre Operator
- Sales Representative
- Administration Officer
- Customer Experience Manager
- Digital Marketing Specialist
- Call Centre Operator
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