Customer Service Representative - Resumes

Build a great Customer Service Representative resume

Learn how to stand out in your application

Because positive or negative customer service experiences can make such a significant difference for a company and its customers, customer service representatives play a critical role. 

These reps must address customer needs, resolve problems and complaints, and ensure customers have a positive experience with the company to ensure repeat purchases and ROI contribution. Otherwise, the business could lose customers, business and revenue.

If you’re applying for a customer service rep position, knowing how to structure your resume and what you should list and call out, including education, skills and objectives, can help your resume get noticed and selected and an interview scheduled. 

How to structure your customer service representative resume

When formatting your resume for a customer service rep position, you should include:

  1. A summary/career objective

  2. Education/certifications

  3. Relevant work history, including the company, dates worked, and brief description of the duties performed

  4. Relevant skills for the role

When creating your resume, you’ll want to carefully read the job description to ensure you include all relevant keywords, skills and experience that shows you are the best candidate. By tailoring your objective and resume to the job description, it’s more likely it will make it through any application tracking system software and to the desk of the hiring manager.

Customer service representative job description

Customer service reps are sometimes considered the “face” of a company, and businesses rely on reps to create and foster loyalty from customers, enforce a positive brand reputation, and generate successful interactions with customers. 

Representatives are partially responsible for ensuring customers have a positive experience with the company so that they continue to come back, make repeat purchases, and tell others about the location, therefore generating referrals. Negative experiences could result in a loss of customers, meaning loss of revenue, which could significantly poorly impact the business.

Customer service representative roles can look different depending on the company for which they work. Generally, the job description for a customer service rep can include duties such as:

  • Resolve customer complaints via telephone, email, mail or social media.

  • Greet customers in a positive, warm and friendly manner and listen to their problem or reason for calling. 

  • Cancel or upgrade customer accounts.

  • Assist with placement of orders, generating refunds, or facilitating exchanges. 

  • Provide information on the company to customers and answer any questions.

  • Suggest solutions to customer problems and help resolve complaints. 

  • Inform customers of promotions and assist with selling products or services.

  • Compile reports on customer satisfaction.

  • Identify and generate sales leads for the sales team or representatives.

  • Build relationships and develop trust with customers through friendly, open and empathetic communication and interactions.

Customer service representative education

A high school diploma or GED are typically required for a customer service representative role. Depending on the organization, additional post-secondary education may be preferred. For example, an ideal candidate may have a business, communications, or marketing degree.

You may want to outline your education on your resume like the following:

Education

XYZ College

City, State

Degree

XYZ High School

City, State

High School Diploma

When listing your education, here are a few tips:

  • Consider leaving off the years you attended or your graduation date. Typically, that’s not as important unless you’re still pursuing your degree. In that case, be clear your education is in progress. For example,

Bachelor’s degree in business admin.; anticipated completion May, 2022

  • List the order of your education with the highest level first. For example, if you have a Bachelor’s degree and high school diploma, list the Bachelor’s degree first, followed by your diploma. 

  • If you have additional certifications or training, list them in their own section with the heading “Additional Certifications.” Include the organization that provided the certification, the title, and the date of completion or renewal. 

  • Unless you’re a recent graduate or it’s a requirement for the role, you don’t need to include your high school education.

What to include on your resume for a customer service representative 

Typically, a customer service rep resume will list the education or formal training you have that makes you most qualified for the role. 

Then, in the work experience section, you’ll want to include duties related to the job description, such as:

  • Used customer relationship management system (CRM) to store customer and prospect data and transactions. (Mention a specific CRM system if applicable.)

  • Performed customer service responsibilities via phone and email. 

  • Generated an average of X leads per month for the sales team to help generate additional revenue for the business. 

  • Worked to build relationships and trust in the brand via positive and interactive customer interactions, maintaining an average of X% customer satisfaction ratings.

  • Managed a variety of customer service issues, including complaints, questions, refunds and returns. Averaged X customers per week. 

  • Transferred customers to necessary departments such as billing, product support or sales. 

The experience and skills you list should be relevant to the job you’re applying for. Try to go beyond simply listing duties you’ve performed, and instead show both duties and achievements with examples or numbers to support the statements. 

Customer service representative skills and traits for a resume

There are many skills and traits you could list on your resume for a customer service rep position. Here are a few to choose from to get you started:

  • Knowledge of CRM systems

  • Knowledge of phone systems and other platforms

  • Strong verbal communication skills

  • Empathetic

  • Adaptable

  • Positive

  • Friendly 

  • Patient

  • Active listener

  • Time management skills

  • Efficient

  • Courteous

  • Fast learner

Much of the training and perfection of skills needed to be successful as a customer service rep comes through on-the-job experience. This includes skills such as communication, lead generation, relationship building and more. You’ll also develop an understanding and subject matter expertise for the product/service the company sells, and company policies and procedures. 

If you have previous customer service experience, be sure to list it on your resume. If you don’t, you can still highlight experience and skills you may have that make you a great candidate for the position. Look at the experience (volunteer or employment) you have and determine which of the above skills were learned or improved upon, and list those on your resume.

Action verbs to include on a customer service representative resume

  • Communicated

  • Responded 

  • Managed

  • Consulted

  • Answered

  • Maintained

  • Conducted

  • Provided

  • Trained

  • Implemented

  • Tracked

  • Enhanced

  • Generated 

  • Sold

Should I include references in my customer service representative resume?

Your resume is a professional representation of your career qualifications and skills that make you an ideal candidate. As a general rule, avoid including references in your resume unless they are specifically asked for. This is information that tends to distract hiring managers from the information you want them to see, and it can take up valuable space on the page. 

If references are requested, you can include them on your resume or as a separate document. Be sure to list the name, job title, company, email address and phone number for each reference. 

Customer service representative resume objectives

A career objective, also known as a resume objective or summary, is a brief statement toward the top of your resume that explains your professional goals and intentions for applying to a job. In 1 to 3 sentences, you should mention the job title, add a couple of key skills, and share what you’re hoping to achieve in the job.  

Correct Examples:

  • Goal-oriented customer service representative with X years of experience. Seeking position with XYZ company to contribute to customer retention and revenue generation. Customer satisfaction scores regularly exceeded Y%. 

  • Professional looking to assist customers and improve retention for XYZ company products/services. Regularly maintained customer satisfaction survey results of X% and generated Y leads per month through innovative lead generation efforts.

  • Highly-motivated customer service representative seeking a position with XYZ company, where I can contribute strong customer service skills to build relationships, maintain customers and contribute to revenue goals. X years of service experience in the Y industry and a degree in Z.  

Incorrect Examples:

  • Customer service representative looking for a position with XYZ company. 

This is too short and doesn’t include enough detail about your skills or intentions. Be sure to list a couple of key skills that make you the best for the role, and share your desire for being hired. 

  • Energetic, outgoing customer service representative with a degree in business. Previous customer service experience and would love to join XYZ company to improve company sales.

Numbers speak louder than words, and as an experienced customer service representative, you should have numbers and metrics to support your claims. Be specific about what you bring to the table, and highlight those key skills or metrics that help you stand out. 

  • I want to apply my communication and relationship-building skills and knowledge of the industry to this role to meet customer retention goals. 

Consider adding your years of experience, or be more specific about how your knowledge of the industry or skills would help you to meet goals. Also be sure to mention the role you’re applying for (customer service rep) and possibly the company for a more personal touch.

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