Feeling like your customer service resume is stuck in a queue? Are you hearing endless hold music and seeing no resolution? This is a common challenge, but one that can be overcome with the right approach.
Don't worry; this guide will show you step-by-step how to craft a standout customer service representative resume that showcases your strengths and lands you that interview.
Top Insights:
Customer service representative resumes must focus on various customer service skills, especially communication.
Your work achievements need to be easy to scan and show quantified metrics.
Bonus sections that further your qualifications will help your customer service rep resume stand out from other candidates.
I had an interview yesterday and the first thing they said on the phone was: “Wow! I love your resume.” Patrick
I love the variety of templates. Good job guys, keep up the good work! Dylan
My previous resume was really weak and I used to spend hours adjusting it in Word. Now, I can introduce any changes within minutes. Absolutely wonderful! George
Customer Service Representative Resume Example #1: Experienced Applicant
What makes it work:
This customer service rep's resume is great for an experienced professional.
It takes full advantage of showcasing multiple relevant, strong, and quantified achievements.
Bonus sections show that this candidate is an award-winning professional, and their knowledge of languages allows him to deal with customers from other countries.
Customer Service Representative Resume Example #2—for a Senior Position
What makes it work:
This senior customer service representative resume sample showcases a ton of experience and expertise.
It briefly mentions education and glosses over additional skills to save space for more impressive and relevant accomplishments.
The bonus sections showcase that Maxine is a known expert in the field, as she has published several articles and was a speaker during industry conferences.
Customer Service Representative Resume Example #3—for Entry-Level Jobs
What makes it work:
This customer service representative resume showcases a candidate with limited working experience, putting a lot of emphasis on the education section.
The candidate, despite having limited experience, managed to pick out the most relevant achievements, both from the internship and her volunteering experience.
How to Write a Strong Customer Service Representative Resume
Think of job postings as a set of instructions. The better you understand them, the more precisely you can tailor your resume. And according to a Forrester study, the quality of customer experience fell for 19% of brands in 2022. This means many companies will seek experts in CX to help rebuild their brand images.
1. Analyze the Job Posting First
So let’s take a look at a customer service representative job posting from the State of Washington:
Whether working from our call centers or their own homes, our contact center and reservations agents manage various tasks, including urgent travel plan adjustments and mileage plan award travel. Our agents are creative problem-solvers who approach each guest interaction with empathy and kindness. If you can warmly welcome people from diverse backgrounds, think quickly, and handle a flexible schedule, we want to hear from you.
Responsibilities:
Provide superior customer service to guests.
Handle incoming calls/chats from customers in a prompt and courteous manner.
Maintain records of customer complaints and report to the appropriate departments.
Handle written correspondence with customers and other departments as needed.
Promote strategic partnerships by educating customers about marketing promotions and program benefits.
Okay, this looks like a fine job. It caught the interest of a candidate named Max. Here’s some info about him:
Max Firth is a seasoned Customer Service Representative with over five years of experience in the retail industry. He holds an Associate's Degree in Business Administration from Seattle University. He served as a Customer Service Representative at ABC Retail in Seattle, WA, where he has significantly reduced average customer wait times by 30% and was recognized as Employee of the Month for exceptional customer service skills.
Previously, at Kalk Enterprises, Max excelled as a Front Desk Clerk, achieving a 95% customer satisfaction rating and reducing guest complaints by 30%. He effectively managed an average of 100 calls daily with a 90% resolution rate. Max's skills include customer service, sales techniques, CRM software, training and mentoring, data entry, and inventory management.
But despite his great accomplishments, his first draft of a customer service representative resume introduction was lackluster:
And he also failed to display his accomplishments properly:
Max could wave this job goodbye. His introduction wouldn’t inspire any recruiter to read his resume further. And if they’d done it anyway, the list of responsibilities was just way too weak. His resume needed to be fixed. This is how:
2. Start With the Customer Service Representative Profile
The first thing Max did, was go online and read up on how to write a resume introduction. He learned that he was lacking some form of a hook. Just like presenting new offers to clients, your resume profile must present value that’s too good to pass on.
If you’re an experienced professional, start with a resume summary, and focus on achievements from your past jobs. If you’re creating a fresher resume, lead with a resume objective. Use it to showcase your academic and extracurricular accomplishments that show qualifications and motivation.
In the case of Max, he chose a professional summary. See what he made:
Several things make this customer service representative resume profile great:
It directly targets points mentioned in the job posting through the use of resume keywords.
It shows Max’s skills, professional accomplishments, and his motivation to join the company.
It clearly states how much experience he has.
The general blueprint for a summary and objective is the same. Start with a descriptive power word, then your title + years of experience (if any). Next, just focus on your skills and achievements, and what value you can bring to the company.
3. Turn Key Skills Into Core Competencies
In this line of work, customer service skills are obviously important. But “customer service” is a broad term, with dozens of skills to choose from.
But here’s the thing. Listing all of them would just bloat your customer service rep resume. This is why I recommend you find only a few of the most important job skills, and showcase them in your core competencies resume section. Just like Max did here:
What makes this list work?
It’s short and succinct, taking up little space.
It’s tailored to the job posting, showcasing skills the employer expects.
One very important thing about the core competencies section is that it’s basically a list of resume keywords. It’s important, because keywords allow you to pass ATS tests. Without an ATS-friendly resume, your application might get rejected by the algorithm, and discard you, even though you might’ve been the perfect candidate.
As for which skills to prioritize as your core competencies, I recommend a mix of hard skills and soft skills, as both types are very important for customer service representatives.
Expert Hint: If you’re changing careers from a different field into customer service, I recommend creating a skills-based resume. Use it to present transferable skills that are applicable to the customer service world.
4. Present Your Accomplishments in Customer Service
Now, as long as you have already accumulated some experience in this line of work, the work experience section should be the longest, most developed part of your customer service representative resume. The crucial part here is to fill it out with very descriptive bullet points. Start off with your key qualifications, and finish with a list of key job accomplishments, quantifying them for impact.
Max struggled with this part at first, but with our resume builder’s suggestions, he created a striking customer service representative job description:
Keywords from the job listing are incorporated to match the desired qualifications.
The main focus is on showing that Max can deal with customers to create positive outcomes.
Customer service is more important than many people think. In fact, research has shown that increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%. And that little fact also shows you the power of measured achievements.
Expert Hint: If you’re writing a career change resume, you’ll need to pick out the most relevant experiences from your previous jobs to showcase. In this case, any type of accomplishment that required communication with a client would likely fit like a glove.
5. Add Other Essential Sections
In customer service, not every interaction is about resolving issues, or pitching new products and services. Sometimes, it’s just about providing information. It’s the same with a customer service representative resume. Especially, with the resume header.
It’s a self-explanatory section. List your name, job title, contact information like phone and email, and a LinkedIn profile. See the example below:
And if you have experience and your focus is on your work history, I recommend making the resume education section fairly basic.
Why is it good?
It’s simple and presents all the necessary information.
It shows that Max was serious about working in customer service from the start, as he did an internship at a famous hotel chain.
The nice thing about the education section is that it can be used to fill in the gaps caused by the lack of professional experience. So for customer service representative resumes with no experience, I recommend adding relevant coursework, projects, club activities, school awards, or any other academic accomplishments. As long as they are relevant, of course.
6. Showcase Bonus Sections to Stand Out
Many people stop here. But the problem with that is, their customer service resumes all blend in together. To make your resume stand out, you should add a couple of bonus sections.
Additional skills provide a more comprehensive view of his soft skills.
Certifications and awards showcase Max’s expertise as a customer service representative.
Bilingualism lets Max easily communicate with clients from other countries.
If you want to include other sections, consider:
Volunteer Work: Non-profit or charity progression roles, especially those involving customer service, display your commitment to service and people.
Hobbies and Interests: Consider showcasing activities that reflect your personal interests and align with and enhance your professional skills.
Professional Memberships: Highlight any relevant associations you belong to, demonstrating your engagement with the industry and commitment to professional development.
Publications: Include articles, blog posts, or other published work that showcases your expertise and thought leadership in customer service.
Conference Attendance: List industry conferences or workshops you have attended to show your dedication to staying updated with the latest trends and best practices in customer service.
If you want to discover more resume writing insights, read these articles:
Or keep reading to learn how to make your resume visually pleasing.
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Prepare the Best Format for Your CS Representative Resume
When dealing with customer problems, you must describe all the steps and solutions clearly and in an organized manner. The moment you start missing parts of the process, or use a random order of actions, everything will fall apart.
Resumes are similar in a way. They need structure and order. In other words, you must apply the proper resume format.
Use a chronological resume style to showcase your career progression, or a functional style if you’re changing careers. Apply clear headings and use bullet points to guide the recruiter’s eyes to achievements. Set a serif font and leave some space in between the lines to make your resume much more readable.
You can make formatting a resume easy or hard. The easy path is choosing a pre-formatted blank resume template and just fill it out. The hard route is to make one from scratch. If you want to make your customer service representative resume template yourself, refer to these rules:
Decide on the style of your resume: Are you going for a chronological resume? Should it be a standard design, or do you want a second column, or a sidebar? How large should the heading be, and are there going to be any resume icons? Once you have a plan in mind, stick to it.
Align the length of your resume with your experience: If you’re starting out, create a one-page resume. If you’re already a professional customer service rep, extend it to two pages.
Save the resume as a PDF and DOC: In general, you want to be sending PDFs as they protect your formatting, but some ATS's struggle with reading PDFs. So always ensure the job posting doesn’t specify that they want a resume in DOC.
Expert Hint: Do not forget to write a cover letter to match your customer service representative resume. Make sure to personalize it for each job application, highlighting why you are a good fit for the specific company and role. Use the customer service rep cover letter to show enthusiasm and passion for the position and company.
If you want to browse through resume templates and learn more about them, see:
Want to try a different look? There's 21 more. A single click will give your document a total makeover. Pick a cover letter template here.
And that’s it for my customer service rep resume guide. Still not sure how to write a customer service representative resume? I’m at your service. Leave me a comment below, and I’ll reach out with help!
About ResumeLab’s Editorial Process
At ResumeLab, quality is at the crux of our values, supporting our commitment to delivering top-notch career resources. The editorial team of career experts carefully reviews every article in accordance with editorial guidelines, ensuring the high quality and reliability of our content. We actively conduct original research, shedding light on the job market's intricacies and earning recognition from numerous influential news outlets. Our dedication to delivering expert career advice attracts millions of readers to our blog each year.
Mariusz is a career expert with a background in quality control & economics. With work experience in FinTech and a passion for self-development, Mariusz brings a unique perspective to his role. He’s dedicated to providing the most effective advice on resume and cover letter writing techniques to help his readers secure the jobs of their dreams.