Survey Interviewers

ANZSCO ID 5615

Overview

Snapshot

Employed
2,800
Future Growth
3.8%
Weekly Earnings
N/A
Full-Time Share
21%
Female Share
59%
Average age
43

Summary

Survey Interviewers interview people and record their responses to survey and market research questions on a range of topics.

Specialisations: Market Research Interviewer.

Formal qualifications are not essential to work as a Survey Interviewer. Although most workers have a university degree or a Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification in areas like business, management, marketing, psychology, accounting or clerical studies.

Tasks

  • contacting people face-to-face and via the telephone to conduct surveys

  • recording answers to survey questions manually and electronically

  • recording the distribution of questionnaires

  • collecting questionnaires and returning them to supervisors

  • scanning questionnaires to ensure that important questions have been answered

  • may interview people at random in crowds and on the street

  • may provide self-completion questionnaires

  • may encode responses and check their consistency

  • may work in a call centre

Characteristics

Job Type
Clerical And Administrative Workers
Skill Level
Entry level
ANZSCO Occupation group
Unemployment Rate
Above average
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • Vocational Education and Training (VET)
  • Informal or on-the-job
Interests
  • Administrative
  • Enterprising
  • Helping
Physical Demand
  • Sedentary
  • Light

Outlook

Employment Outlook

JSA produces employment projections to show where likely future job opportunities may be. The latest data are for the five years from November 2021 to November 2026. Over this period, the number of workers:

  • is expected to grow moderately
  • is likely to reach 2,400 by 2026.
  • Source: Jobs and Skills Australia Employment Projections to 2026.

    Notes: The number employed includes people who work in this occupation as their main job. People who work in more than one job are counted against the occupation they work the most hours in.

    Employment projections figures are rounded to the nearest 100. Calculations based on these rounded figures may result in differences to the numbers that are displayed on this page. Employment projections data (including occupations) can be downloaded from the Employment Projections page.

Projected Change
3.8%
(or 100 jobs)
From
2,300
in 2021
To
2,400
in 2026

Number of Workers

Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, ABS seasonally adjusted data to November 2021 and Jobs and Skills Australia Employment Projections to 2026.
Year Employment
2011 5,600
2012 5,900
2013 4,600
2014 1,800
2015 2,700
2016 2,000
2017 3,900
2018 3,500
2019 2,000
2020 2,400
2021 2,300
2026 2,400

Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, ABS seasonally adjusted data to November 2021 and Jobs and Skills Australia Employment Projections to 2026.


Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • Around 20% of people employed as Survey Interviewers work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 46 percentage points below the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 42 hours per week in their main job. This is similar to the all jobs average (44 hours per week).

    Sources:Full-time share and full-time hours: ABS, 2016 Census, customised report. Compared to the all jobs average.


Industries

Main industries

1
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
62.9%
2
Public Administration and Safety
22.9%
3
Information Media and Telecommunications
5.7%
4
Administrative and Support Services
5.7%
5
Other industries
2.9%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

25.2% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

39.2% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

14.3% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

6.5% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

7.9% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

3.7% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

1.9% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

1.3% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Survey Interviewers All Jobs Average
NSW 25.2 31.6
VIC 39.2 25.6
QLD 14.3 20.0
SA 6.5 7.0
WA 7.9 10.8
TAS 3.7 2.0
NT 1.9 1.0
ACT 1.3 1.9



Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
43
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
59%
All Jobs Average is 48%
  • The median age of Survey Interviewers is 43 years. This is higher than the all jobs average of 40 years.

    A large share of workers are aged 20 to 24 years.

    Females make up 59% of the workforce. This is 11 percentage points above the all jobs average of 48%.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile and gender share compared to the all jobs average.

Age Profile (% Share)

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Bracket Survey Interviewers All Jobs Average
15-19 3.4 5.0
20-24 19.8 9.3
25-34 16.6 22.9
35-44 11.3 22.0
45-54 14.7 21.6
55-59 10.6 9.0
60-64 11.4 6.0
65 and Over 12.2 4.2
Median Age 43 40

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.


Employment Pathways

Education, training and experience

Formal qualifications are not essential to work as a Survey Interviewer. Although most workers have a university degree or a Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification in areas like business, management, marketing, psychology, accounting or clerical studies.

Visit

  • My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
  • AAPathways website to explore Sport, Fitness and Recreation VET training pathways.

Highest Level of Education (% Share)

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Type of Qualification Survey Interviewers All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 11.7 10.1
Bachelor degree 28.0 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 12.6 11.6
Certificate III/IV 10.8 21.1
Year 12 25.3 18.1
Year 11 3.7 4.8
Year 10 and below 7.9 12.5

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.


Skills and Knowledge

Employers look for Survey Interviewers who have strong communication skills, interact well with others and who are reliable.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 57%

    Active listening

    Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

  • 54%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 50%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 46%

    Critical thinking

    Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

  • 45%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 45%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 43%

    Monitoring

    Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.

  • 43%

    Time management

    Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.

  • 41%

    Complex problem solving

    Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

  • 41%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 41%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 39%

    Negotiation

    Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.

  • 39%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 39%

    Active learning

    Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.

  • 39%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 39%

    Learning strategies

    Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.

  • 37%

    Judgment and decision making

    Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.

  • 36%

    Management of personnel resources

    Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.

  • 30%

    Systems analysis

    Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect it.

  • 27%

    Mathematics

    Using maths to solve problems.


Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 46%

    English language

    English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

  • 45%

    Computers and electronics

    Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

  • 45%

    Clerical

    Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.

  • 42%

    Customer and personal service

    Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.

  • 33%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 33%

    Sales and marketing

    Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

  • 28%

    Administration and management

    Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.

  • 28%

    Psychology

    Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.

  • 28%

    Education and training

    Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

  • 25%

    Communications and media

    Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.

  • 22%

    Foreign language

    Foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

  • 21%

    Telecommunications

    Transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

  • 19%

    Law and government

    How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.

  • 18%

    Sociology and anthropology

    Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

  • 17%

    Economics and accounting

    Economics and accounting, the financial markets, banking and checking and reporting of financial data.

  • 17%

    Personnel and human resources

    Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.

  • 17%

    Medicine and dentistry

    Diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities, including preventive health-care measures.

  • 16%

    Public safety and security

    Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.

  • 16%

    Production and processing

    Raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and ways of making and distributing goods.

  • 14%

    Transportation

    Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.


Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 55%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 55%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 55%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 55%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 54%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 50%

    Near vision

    See details that are up-close (within a few feet).

  • 45%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 45%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 43%

    Inductive reasoning

    Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.

  • 43%

    Sorting or ordering

    Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

  • 41%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 41%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.

  • 37%

    Problem spotting

    Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.

  • 36%

    Flexibility of closure

    See a pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) hidden in other distracting material.

  • 34%

    Brainstorming

    Come up with a number of ideas about a topic, even if the ideas aren't very good.

  • 34%

    Originality

    Come up with unusual or clever ideas, or creative ways to solve a problem.

  • 32%

    Multitasking

    Do two or more things at the same time.

  • 30%

    Finger dexterity

    Put together small parts with your fingers.

  • 29%

    Mathematics

    Choose the right maths method or formula to solve a problem.

  • 29%

    Auditory attention

    Pay attention to a certain sound when there are other distracting sounds.


Activities

These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.

  • 57%

    Collecting and organising information

    Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.

  • 55%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 46%

    Working with the public

    Greeting or serving customers, clients or guests, and public speaking or performing.

  • 44%

    Communicating within a team

    Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 42%

    Communicating with the public

    Giving information to the public, business or government by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 41%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 37%

    Documenting or recording information

    Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

  • 35%

    Looking for changes over time

    Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.

  • 33%

    Planning and prioritising work

    Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.

  • 33%

    Working with computers

    Using computers to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.

  • 32%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

    Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.

  • 31%

    Making sense of information and ideas

    Looking at, working with, and understanding data or information.

  • 31%

    Negotiating and resolving conflicts

    Handling complaints and disagreements, and negotiating with people.

  • 30%

    Leading and encouraging a team

    Encouraging and building trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.

  • 29%

    Influencing people

    Convincing people to buy something or to change their minds or actions.

  • 29%

    Assessing and evaluating things

    Working out the value, importance, or quality of things, services or people.

  • 27%

    Coordinating the work of a team

    Getting members of a group to work together to finish a task.

  • 24%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use information.

  • 23%

    Checking compliance with standards

    Deciding whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

  • 22%

    Providing office support

    Doing day-to-day office work such as filing and processing paperwork.


Interests and demands

Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.

Interests

Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.

  • 86%

    Administrative

    Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.

  • 76%

    Enterprising

    Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.

  • 67%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 19%

    Analytical

    Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.

  • 19%

    Creative

    Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.

  • 19%

    Practical

    Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.


Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
  • 81%

    Relationships

    Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.

  • 71%

    Support

    Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.

  • 52%

    Independence

    Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.

  • 52%

    Working conditions

    Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.

  • 33%

    Achievement

    Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

  • 29%

    Recognition

    Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.


Demands

The physical and social demands that workers face most often are shown below:
  • 99%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 98%

    Contact with people

    Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.

  • 95%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 94%

    Spend time sitting

    Spend time sitting at work.

  • 88%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 85%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 85%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 84%

    Angry or unpleasant people

    Deal with unpleasant, angry, or rude people.

  • 84%

    Making repetitive motions

    Spend time making repetitive motions.

  • 83%

    Repeating same tasks

    Repeat the same tasks or activities (e.g., key entry) over and over, without stopping.

  • 79%

    Physically close to people

    Work physically close to other people.

  • 77%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 75%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

  • 71%

    Using your hands to handle, control, or feel

    Spend time using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls.

  • 67%

    Unstructured work

    Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.

  • 65%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 64%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

  • 63%

    Loud or uncomfortable sounds

    Be exposed to noises and sounds that are distracting or uncomfortable.

  • 62%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 59%

    Electronic mail

    Use electronic mail.

Occupational Information Network
O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 43-4111.00 - Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan.


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