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Telephone receptionists

How to become a Mail Order Clerk

Also called: Telesales operator, Phone order clerk, Online order clerk, Online shop operator

Answers questions about products and services from customers who found them in catalogues or on websites, and takes and processes their orders.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say university or high school is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

No particular education or qualification is required to start. People are hired through job listings sent to schools, and some companies also hire mid-career. After joining, you learn the job while working for a few weeks. By building on the experience you gain from dealing with real customers, you can sharpen your skills in mail order work and customer service. A related qualification, consumer affairs adviser, can sometimes be useful. You deal with customers directly, so you need to be polite and sincere. It also helps to have fast, accurate administrative skills and quick judgement so that customers are not kept waiting and mistakes are avoided.

Pay · Job openings · AI and this job

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Mail Order Clerk?

No particular education or qualification is required to start. People are hired through job listings sent to schools, and some companies also hire mid-career. After joining, you learn the job while working for a few weeks. By building on the experience you gain from dealing with real customers, you can sharpen your skills in mail order work and customer service. A related qualification, consumer affairs adviser, can sometimes be useful. You deal with customers directly, so you need to be polite and sincere. It also helps to have fast, accurate administrative skills and quick judgement so that customers are not kept waiting and mistakes are avoided.

How much does a Mail Order Clerk earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥4,070,200 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Telephone receptionists, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Mail Order Clerk?

Not always. In this job's census occupation group, 28% of workers are university graduates.

Will AI change the work of a Mail Order Clerk?

Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026