Call centre operator

You would answer people’s questions, give them advice and sort out their problems by phone and email.

You’d help customers with clear, friendly advice and information. Sometimes you’d help them complete a task such as pay a bill or buy a product which they may find confusing or difficult.

You’d probably speak with people on the phone or use email, text and instant messaging to chat with them. But you might also respond by post or fax.

You could work in a lot of different sectors.

If you work for a retail company, shop or mail order business, you would:

• Deal with customer orders

• Handle credit and debit card payments

• Answer enquiries

• Respond to complaints

If you work or a financial institution you’d advise people about the products and services. You’d also do telesales to sell the products and do market research.

If you worked on an information technology (IT) helpline you’d help customers fix their computer problems. You might talk them through the process.

You could also help the people who call advice lines for services like:

• Counselling

• Welfare and benefits advice

• Legal information

• Help with careers

You would usually access and update customers' records on computer databases.

With experience, you could mentor and train staff and check calls to ensure customers get a good service.

• Institute of Customer Service - professional membership body for customer service

• Customer Contact Association - Research, news and standards for developing customer service