Crafting a resume in the customer service field can be daunting when trying to highlight the variety of soft skills and problem-solving abilities you've developed. Our guide is designed to help you effectively showcase these talents through proven strategies and powerful wording that will catch an employer's attention.
- Defining the highlights of your customer service career through your resume summary, objective, and experience.
- Real-world customer service resume samples with best practices on how to stand out amongst the endless pile of candidate resumes.
- Most in-demand customer service resume skills and certifications across the industry.
- Standardizing your resume layout, while maintaining your creativity and individuality.
If the customer service resume isn't the right one for you, take a look at other related guides we have:
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- Internet Sales Manager Resume Example
The ultimate formula for your customer service resume format
Our best advice on how to style your customer service resume is this - first, take the time to study the job advert requirements.
The resume format you select should ultimately help you better align how your experience matches the specific role.
There are four crucial elements you need to thus take into consideration:
- How you present your experience. If you happen to have plenty of relevant expertise, select the reverse-chronological resume format to organize your experience by dates, starting with the latest.
- Don't go over the top with writing your resume. Instead, stick with a maximum of two-page format to feature what matters most about your profile.
- Headers aren't just for "decoration". The header of your resume helps recruiters allocate your contact details, portfolio, and so much more.
- The PDF format rules. It's the most common practice to submit your customer service resume as a PDF so that your resume doesn't lose its layout. However, make sure the read the job well - in some instances, they might require a doc file.
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List all your relevant higher education degrees within your resume in reverse chronological order (starting with the latest). There are cases when your PhD in a particular field could help you stand apart from other candidates.
Essential sections that should make up your customer service resume include:
- The header - with your contact details (e.g. email and telephone number), link to your portfolio, and headline
- The summary (or objective) - to spotlight the peaks of your professional career, so far
- The experience section - with up to six bullets per role to detail specific outcomes
- The skills list - to provide a healthy mix between your personal and professional talents
- The education and certification - showing your most relevant degrees and certificates to the customer service role
What recruiters want to see on your resume:
- Demonstrated ability to handle customer inquiries and complaints with patience and professionalism
- Proven experience with CRM software and phone systems
- Strong communication skills including active listening and clear articulation
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple tasks simultaneously
- History of achieving customer satisfaction and retention goals
What to include in the experience section of your customer service resume
The resume experience section is perhaps the most important element in your application as it needs to showcase how your current profile matches the job.
While it may take some time to perfect your customer service experience section, here are five tips to keep in mind when writing yours:
- Assess the advert to make a list of key requirements and look back on how each of your past jobs answers those;
- Don't just showcase you know a particular skill, instead, you need proof in the form of tangible results (e.g. numbers, percent, etc.);
- It's perfectly fine to leave off experience items that don't bring anything extra to your skill set or application;
- Recruiters want to understand what the particular value is of working with you, so instead of solely featuring technologies, think about including at least one bullet that's focused on your soft skills;
- Take care with wording each bullet to demonstrate what you've achieved, using a particular skill, and an action verb.
The below customer service resume examples can help guide you to curate your professional experience, following industry-leading tips and advice.
- Expertly managed a team of customer service representatives handling over 15,000 calls per month with a satisfaction rate of 94%.
- Pioneered the implementation of a new CRM system that increased customer retention by 5% within the first fiscal year.
- Developed and facilitated monthly training sessions that contributed to a 30% reduction in average call resolution time.
- Orchestrated the overhaul of the complaint resolution process, reducing resolution time by an average of 2 days.
- Championed the customer feedback program, incorporating customer suggestions into service improvements.
- Exceeded annual sales targets through effective upselling techniques, adding an extra $200K in extended warranty sales.
- Managed a portfolio of high-value accounts, ensuring 98% customer satisfaction and retention over 3 years.
- Negotiated resolution on high-stakes customer issues, ultimately preserving relationships worth upwards of $1M in revenue.
- Recognized as 'Employee of the Year' for superior performance and dedication to customer service excellence.
- Implemented a proactive communication strategy that reduced incoming query volume by 15% through effective problem-solving.
- Increased customer survey participation by 25%, gaining valuable insights that informed service delivery improvements.
- Collaborated with product teams to identify and fix three major software issues, enhancing user experience.
- Spearheaded a client retention initiative that saw the recapture of 20% of lapsed accounts through strategic outreach.
- Acknowledged for designing an interactive FAQ section reducing general inquiries by 30%, allowing more focus on complex issues.
- Created comprehensive performance reports to track team KPIs, resulting in a 25% improvement in average response time.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to roll out a new customer service protocol that enhanced customer engagement.
- Delivered exceptional service to over 10,000 customers, achieving an individual customer satisfaction score of 97%.
- Led a project to streamline the helpdesk workflow, which cut down on response times and boosted customer satisfaction by 10%.
- Promoted to a senior role after demonstrating exceptional problem-solving abilities and mastery of customer service software tools.
- Played a key role in reducing the staff turnover rate by 20% through mentorship and implementing a rewards program.
- Contributed to a company-wide initiative that improved the Net Promoter Score (NPS) from 70 to 85.
- Redesigned the call script to improve customer satisfaction, which was later adopted company-wide.
- Streamlined the process for handling escalated calls, allowing for a 20% faster resolution time.
- Initiated a partnership program with local businesses that resulted in a 15% increase in referral sales.
- Delivered high-quality customer service consistently, with a 95% positive feedback rating over a 6-month period.
- Improved email handling efficiency by 40% through the development of new email management protocols.
- Effectively managed billing disputes, reducing chargeback rates by 5% and preserving customer trust and loyalty.
- Steered a successful loyalty program revamp, leading to a 10% increase in customer lifetime value.
- Directly supported over 5,000 customers through the transition to a new billing system, maintaining a satisfaction rate above 90%.
- Led a bilingual customer support initiative to cater to non-English speaking customers, boosting market share by 8% in targeted demographics.
Quantifying impact on your resume
- Include the number of customer interactions you handle daily to demonstrate the volume of work you can manage.
- List the percentage by which you increased customer satisfaction scores to show your ability to improve service quality.
- Mention the specific number of support tickets you resolved within targeted resolution times to highlight your efficiency.
- Describe how you contributed to reducing average customer wait times, linking it to percentages to emphasize operational improvements.
- Detail any training programs you’ve led, noting the number of participants to showcase your leadership and scalability of your efforts.
- Quantify the size of the customer base you serviced to provide context to your experience scale.
- Report on any upselling or cross-selling success with precise revenue or conversion figures to underline your sales acumen.
- State the number of team members you’ve supervised or coordinated with to convey your collaborative and management skills.
Action verbs for your customer service resume
What if my customer service experience doesn't match the requirements?
You've just graduated from college and may have no real world job experience . What should you include within your resume then?
Instead of making up information or adding irrelevant past jobs (e.g. your on-campus work during freshman year), you can:
- Shift the focus from your professional experience to your community impact with your volunteer work. This would showcase numerous soft skills you've built over time (e.g. interpersonal communication);
- Highlight the projects you've completed, as part of your coursework, or, on your own. Thus, you will align your technical background with recruiters' requirements;
- Consider spotlighting your transferrable skills. Or, what lessons and talents your current professional and personal experience has taught you and how they could benefit your potential employers;
- Even if you've had a few months of internship experience, that is relevant for the role, make sure to include this. Recruiters do care about the years of experience you happen to have, but, at the end of the day, your profile would also be assessed based on role alignment.
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List your educational qualifications and certifications in reverse chronological order.
Key hard skills and soft skills for your customer service resume
At the top of any recruiter customer service checklist, you'd discover a list of technical competencies, balanced with personal skills.
Hard or technical skills are your opportunity to show how you meet the essential responsibilities of the role. The ability to use a particular job-crucial technology or software would also hint to recruiters whether you'd need a prolonged period of on-the-job training - or you'd fit right in the job.
But to land your dream role, you'd also need to demonstrate a variety of soft or people resume skills . Employers care about soft skills as they show how each candidate would fit into the team and company culture.
Both types of skills are specific and to best curate them on your resume, you'd need to:
- Create a skill section within which you showcase your hard and soft skills and present how they help you succeed.
- List specific examples of projects, tasks, or competitions, within which your skill set has assisted your results.
- Soft skills are harder to measure, so think about situations in which they've helped you thrive. Describe those situations concisely, focusing on how the outcome has helped you grow as a professional.
- Metrics of success - like positive ROI or optimized workplace processes - are the best way to prove your technical and people skills.
Take a look at some of customer service industry leaders' favorite hard skills and soft skills, as listed on their resumes.
Top skills for your customer service resume:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Data Entry
Product Knowledge
Multitasking
Troubleshooting
Ticketing Systems
Live Chat Software
Technical Writing
Order Processing
Billing Systems
Communication
Empathy
Active Listening
Problem-Solving
Patience
Adaptability
Positive Attitude
Conflict Resolution
Teamwork
Time Management
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If you're in the process of obtaining your certificate or degree, list the expected date you're supposed to graduate or be certified.
Showcase academic background with education and certifications' sections
Listing your education and certifications should be a rudimentary part of your resume writing.
Including your relevant academic background - in the form of your higher education degree and niche-specific certificates - will prove knowledge of the industry.
For your education section:
- Start by including your degree, followed by start and graduation dates, as well as the institution;
- You could include relevant coursework, major/minor , or GPA, only if your've just graduated from college or if this information would further support your application;
- If you have an "ongoing" degree, you can still list it in case you think your diploma can impress recruiters or it's required;
Follow a similar logic for your certifications section by listing the institution, alongside dates you've obtained the certificate. For some of the most recent and relevant industry certificates , check out the next part of our guide:
The top 5 certifications for your customer service resume:
- Certified Customer Service Professional (CCSP) - National Customer Service Association (NCSA)
- Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) - Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA)
- Customer Service Representative (CSR) Certificate - HDI
- Certified Client Service Specialist (CCSS) - The Professional Association for Customer Engagement (PACE)
- Customer Service Certification (CSC) - International Customer Service Association (ICSA)
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The more trusted the organization you've attained your certificate (or degree) from, the more credible your skill set would be.
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Best practices to your customer service resume summary or objective
To start, how do you know if you should include a resume summary or a resume objective ?
- Resume summaries are ideal for customer service professionals with more experience, who'd like to give a quick glimpse of their biggest career achievements in the top one-third of their resumes.
- On the other hand, resume objectives serve as a road map for recruiters. Candidates use the objective to show how their experience aligns with the customer service role they're applying for while showcasing the North Star of their career (or where they want to be as a professional in the next couple of years).
The resume summary or resume objective could be the perfect fit for your customer service resume. The function of both is to highlight your professionalism succinctly. So, keep your writing specific: include no more than four sentences and target your application to the role. Here's how these specific resume sections help the customer service candidates stand out.
Resume summaries for a customer service job
- Seasoned customer service professional with over 10 years of experience, specialized in the telecommunications sector. A solid track record of elevating customer satisfaction rates by implementing strategic policies and fostering a dynamic team environment. Recognized for outstanding problem-solving skills and received the 'Customer Advocate of the Year' award twice.
- Dynamic individual with 5 years of experience in fast-paced hospitality management, seeking to leverage extensive background in customer relations and a keen eye for detail to excel in a customer service capacity. Proven ability to manage and resolve customer inquiries and complaints, leading to a 30% increase in customer retention for the previous employer.
- A passionate former healthcare administrator with 8 years of experience managing patient relations, ready to translate my compassionate communication and meticulous attention to detail into a customer service role. Expert in handling sensitive information and adept at using CRM software to enhance client relations and improve service outcomes.
- Eager to bring a strong background in retail management, encompassing 6 years of improving sales through personalized customer interactions and staff training, into the customer service industry. Accustomed to fast-paced environments and complex problem-solving, with a consistent focus on delivering exceptional client experiences.
- As a recent graduate with a degree in Communications, I am enthusiastic about beginning a career in customer service where I can apply my learned theories and enthusiasm for connecting with people. Keen to develop practical skills and contribute to a team that prioritizes customer satisfaction and professional growth.
- Looking to embark on a customer service career, bringing along unmatched energy and a dedication to learn from the ground up. With a background in volunteer work and community assistance, I am equipped with the empathy, patience, and interpersonal skills necessary to thrive in a customer-focused environment and build long-term client relationships.
Extra customer service resume sections and elements
Creating a winning customer service resume isn't about following a rigid formula. The key is to tailor it to the job requirements while maintaining your unique personality.
Consider including these additional resume sections to enhance your profile:
- Awards - Highlight industry-specific awards as well as any personal accolades to demonstrate recognition of your expertise and achievements;
- Hobbies and interests - Share your interests outside of work. This can provide insights into your personality and indicate whether you'd be a good cultural fit for the organization;
- Projects - Detail significant projects you've been involved in, focusing on your contributions and the outcomes;
- Publications - If you've authored or co-authored academic papers or other publications, include them to establish your credibility and in-depth knowledge of the field.
These sections can give a more comprehensive view of your capabilities and character, complementing the standard resume content.
Key takeaways
Securing your ideal job starts with crafting a compelling customer service resume. It should not only highlight your professional strengths but also reflect your personality. Key aspects to remember include:
- Choose a clear, easily editable format, allowing more time to focus on the content of your resume;
- Emphasize experience relevant to the job, focusing on your impact on the team;
- Opt for a resume summary if you have extensive professional experience, and a resume objective if you're just starting out;
- Include technical skills in the skills section and interpersonal skills in the achievements section;
- Recognize the importance of various resume sections (e.g., My Time, Projects) in showcasing both your professional abilities and personal traits.
