Careers / Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service

Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service — Career Decision Dashboard

United States

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Median annual wage

$38,630

United States, 2025

Employment

34,280

United States, 2025

Typical education

High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)

Job Zone 2

Skills identified

35

10 related careers

Career overview

Operate telephone business systems equipment or switchboards to relay incoming, outgoing, and interoffice calls. May supply information to callers and record messages.

O*NET code
43-2011.00
Job zone
2
Experience required
Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years

Typical tasks

  • 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.
  • Greet visitors, log them in and out of the facility, assign them security badges, and contact employee escorts.
  • Monitor emergency and code alarms, make emergency announcements, or route emergency calls to the appropriate location.
  • Record messages, suggesting rewording for clarity or conciseness.
  • Page individuals to inform them of telephone calls, using paging or interoffice communication equipment.
  • Relay or route written or verbal messages.
  • Perform various cash handling tasks, such as collecting payments, making bank deposits, or managing petty cash.

Choose a location

Salary analysis — United States

$29,990
10th
$34,820
25th
$38,630
Median
$46,530
75th
$59,470
90th

10th percentile

$29,990

25th percentile

$34,820

75th percentile

$46,530

90th percentile

$59,470

Most important skills

  • Active Listening4.0
  • Speaking3.9
  • Social Perceptiveness3.5
  • Service Orientation3.1
  • Reading Comprehension3.0
  • Coordination3.0
  • Monitoring2.9
  • Critical Thinking2.8
  • Time Management2.8
  • Writing2.8
  • Judgment and Decision Making2.6
  • Active Learning2.5

What skills do you need?

Select the skills you already have

Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.

Skill coverage

0%

0 of 6 identified skills

Matched

0

Missing

6

Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.

Skills to develop

SkillImportanceRequired levelYour levelGap
Active Listening4.03.0Not selected3.0
Speaking3.92.9Not selected2.9
Social Perceptiveness3.53.0Not selected3.0
Service Orientation3.12.9Not selected2.9
Reading Comprehension3.02.9Not selected2.9
Coordination3.02.6Not selected2.6

Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.

Related careers

How salary varies by location

LocationMedianEmploymentYear
San Jose, CA$79,2604402025
Urban Honolulu, HI$63,1902402025
San Francisco, CA$61,7807002025
Kahului, HI$60,420702025
HI$59,8604102025
Stockton, CA$59,3601702025
Barnstable Town, MA$57,030402025
DC$54,7002302025
Minneapolis, MN$51,9501102025
Seattle, WA$50,4701902025
Oxnard, CA$49,840602025
Napa, CA$49,460502025
Bend, OR$48,880402025
CA$48,8406,6802025
Salinas, CA$48,840902025
WA$47,8004302025
MN$47,4302002025
Sacramento, CA$47,3804202025
New York, NY$47,3501,4702025
Santa Rosa, CA$46,330902025
All locations with published data

Career transition paths

Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.

Build a transition comparison

Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0.

Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025 (May 2025 release).

Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.