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Call and contact centre staff handle customer questions and/or sell products to customers via calls or text messages.

Other names for call centre staff are:

• Call centre operative/ operator/ assistant/ officer
• Call handler
• Customer service assistant/ advisor
• Contact centre agent
• Customer experience specialist

They can work in offices, call centres or virtual contact centres.

These can either be:

• Inbound contact centres - where people contact the company
• Outbound contact centres - where the company contacts people

Some companies have their own in-house contact centres, and some contact centres are outsourced to other companies.

Many different industries have contact centres. These include:

• Insurance
• Retail
• Banks
• Energy
• Charities
• Broadband, TV and phone

If working at an inbound contact centre, your job may include:

• Talking to customers on the phone, web chat or email
• Helping customers buy a service, fix a problem, solve a complaint and answer general questions
• Meeting call targets

If working at an outbound contact centre, your job may include:

• Calling up people on the phone
• Selling products, services or asking for donations
• Asking people to answer questionnaires
• Meeting sales targets

These jobs can often be done sitting down.

You may have to work early mornings, late nights, on weekends or bank holidays.

This is an entry level job.

If you want to apply for a call centre job, you might need the following:

• Some GCSEs, a Level 1 or 2 certificate or a relevant apprenticeship
• Basic computer skills
• The right to work in the UK

Read our guide to the best call centres to work at.