Introduction
A resume is a formal document consisting of a description of one’s skill set, educational qualifications, job experiences, and personal interests that are shared with an employer where one is looking for an opportunity to create a career. A good resume is the first step of creating a good impression with the employer and it plays a major role to get applicants the opportunity to be interviewed for their desired profile. Here are the Customer Service Resume Summary Examples.
A well-constructed resume must have contact information, resume profile, work experience, education, and skills as mandatory. Additionally, it could also have certifications, languages known, Awards, Hobbies, publications, conferences, volunteer work, etc., The resumes can be modified depending on the nature of the job applied. The applicant needs to highlight and modify information to suit the job profile requirement.
Customer Service Resume
The Customer service profession is to provide support to people about a product or service that the company offers. These services can be maintained through automation, but still requires human assistance. Customer Service jobs require applicants with a skill set to handle the customer efficiently, great communication skills, and a good experience with the ability to direct users with their requirements.
Customer service resume must-have details that will get employers to swiftly notice the job applicant. The job applicant must select a role with related experience, skill set, achievements, and certifications that should their requirements. Basic steps to build a customer service resume are listed below:
- Choose the correct format
- Provide contact information
- Develop a resume summary
- Provide education details
- Highlighting professional experience
- Usage of customer service keywords
- Choose the correct format:
When building a resume for a customer service profile, the applicant can be categorized into two criteria based on which the relevant format can be chosen. They are as follows:
- The Applicant does not have experience / fresher in a customer service profile
- The Applicant has experience in a customer service profile
- The Applicant does not have experience / fresher in a customer service profile:
Those applicants who have experience / fresher in customer service profile can follow the functional resume format which holds details about the applicant’s skill set, achieved specific certification related to this profile, or certain natural skills that would seem suitable for the customer service profile. An applicant looking for a career change may highlight certain skills from their previous job which could fit in for the customer service profile. Also, a fresher, apart from their college degree, could highlight any of their talents or certifications that might be suitable for a customer service profile.
- The Applicant has experience in a customer service profile
Those applicants who have experience in customer service profiles can follow a combination of functional resumes along with a reverse-chronological format. Reverse-Chronological format is one in which the applicant can list down their experiences from present to past, that is, in the reverse order. An experienced customer service professional will have a lot to contribute to the resume. Their recognition and rewards in previous jobs, any ideas implemented, project updates performed, tools that you have worked with, knowledge transfer sessions conducted, etc.,
The major categories of a customer service resume are:
- Job Experience
- Contact Details
- Skill Set
- Educational Information
To create an impression, the applicant can also add the below listed optional sections:
- Awards & Certification
- Volunteer Experience
- Projects
- Languages
- Interests & Hobbies
- Provide contact information
Contact information is the important section in which the applicant must share details that will help an employer to reach them. Any misspellings or wrong numbers may put all the efforts of the applicant in vain. The contact detail section on an applicant’s resume needs to include the below:
- Full Name – Must have a first name and last name. If there is a middle name, please mention that as well.
- Professional Title – This can be the previous role title, as in, “Customer Service Executive”
- Phone Number – Provide the contact number that is in use. Also, good to provide an alternative phone number as well.
- Email Address – Good to have a professional email address ([email protected]). Make sure that the email address shared is in use.
- Location – City and Country where the job applicant stays.
- Optional – relevant social media
Example:
James Smith
Customer Service Executive
Contact: 101-358-6095, Email Id: [email protected]
- Develop a resume summary
A resume is a formal summary with a short description consisting of two or three sentences about the applicant’s background. It should carry significant qualities and job experiences that make the applicant a strong candidate. It must include years of experience in the customer service field of expertise, accomplishments, and skill set.
Some examples:
- Example 1
Customer-focused expert with four years of experience providing professional care in a fast-paced environment. Good collaboration, resolutions, and communication skills. Provide effective customer service to English and German-speaking customers.
- Example 2
Trustworthy customer service specialist who maintained a customer satisfaction rating of 98% over two years. Strong organizational, communication, and technical skills in all phases of customer interaction. Looking for an opportunity with HKL Company to utilize these skills in their professional environment.
- Example 3
Ambitious customer service executive with overall three years of experience rising at the company with a growing operational presence. The return customers have been increased by 15% in a year through social medial campaign strategy via email newsletters.
- Example 4
Passionate customer service specialist with three years of sales experience replying to all streams of customer queries. Career achievements include being awarded as “Best Employee” for 3 consecutive months and received 98% positive customer feedback survey results at NYZ Convenience.
- Provide education details
This section needs to have the below details:
- Degree Type & Major
- University/School Name
- Years Studied
- GPA, Honors, Courses, and any other information that the applicant might want to add
- Example 1:
LONGFORD TECH
Aug ’00 – May ’04
Bachelor of Science in Psychology
- Example 2:
University of Pittsburgh
Bachelor of Arts & Communications
2010-2014
Pittsburgh, PA
- Example 3:
Diploma
Martin J. Luther High School, 2012-2016
Clark, NJ
- Example 4:
B.S., Marketing – Arizona State University
2009 – 2013
Tempe, AZ
- Highlighting professional experience
The Professional experience section is used to show the ability of an applicant along with the impact made in their previous work. If possible, include quantifiable data to analyze the result of an applicant’s contributions. For customer service roles, information like customer satisfactory rating, sales goal percentage met or exceeded by an applicant, and the count of inbound or outbound conversations answered through messaging software. Also, include information about the various ticketing tools based on the expertise of the job applicant. Project enhancements or any application upgrade that has been performed can be highlighted in this section.
The work experience section should contain the below information:
- Position name
- Company Name
- Dates
- Responsibilities & Achievements
- Example 1
ReachOut
Customer Service Representative
New York, NY | April 2017 – current
- Raised existing customer accounts by 28% through excellent customer service and efficient sales techniques
- Dynamically maintained and updated customer accounts information in HubSpot without error
- Efficiently handle incoming calls and escalate them whenever necessary, by reducing the average time to resolution by 15%
- Dynamically performed tasks to portray an empathetic attitude towards customers resulting in good customer feedback
- Example 2
Retail Associate
Becky’s / Aug 2012 – Aug 2014 / Rahway, NJ
- Rapidly resolved customer queries or issues with a kind and empathetic approach
- Professionally re-stocked inventory and updated back-end systems
- Exceeded sales targets by maintaining a strong knowledge of the inventory and quickly analyzing customer needs
- Awarded retail associate of the quarter in Q2 2013
- Example 3
Customer Service Representative
Marley’s Convenience Store
March 2016 – June 2019
- Accomplished highest sale rates in both 2017 (3.6%) and 2018 (2.9%)
- Operated at the customer information desk for 10+ hour shifts
- Received 1000+ customers during store opening occasion
- Awarded “Employee of the Month” two months consecutively by connecting with customers in a professional manner
- Example 4
Customer Service Specialist I March 2015 – April 2017
Xavier Talks Company I Austin, TX
- Provided customer support through live chat and email communication, sustaining an average customer satisfaction score of 99%
- Trained clients through regular live meetings to train them about the product and share some real-life examples on how this is handled by other clients to meet the company’s expectations
- Aligned with the client support team while performing product upgrades, carrying out maintenance activity, sending the communication emails to respective business heads regarding the outage, maintenance, or upgrade notification, and collaborating with other technical teams on the progress updates
- Usage of customer service keywords
Customer service skills are qualities, actions, and practices that enable one to respond to customer requirements, create positive relations, and perform based on the company’s requirements. Employers mostly depend on software known as applicant tracking systems (ATS) that helps to analyze the received resumes and to identify capable candidates. ATS keywords on a resume are significant as the applicant tracking system rapidly scans many resumes, and then it sorts out candidates depending upon keywords set by the employer for the relevant position. For a customer service position, it’s vital to know how to build resumes using keywords so the ATS recognizes you as a relevant candidate. A customer service resume must be a combination of hard and soft skills.
The customer service skills examples are:
- Clear & good Communication: Conversations with the customer needs to be to the point and with clarity.
- Related tool knowledge/ technical knowledge: To solve problems efficiently, product-specific technical or industry knowledge is very essential to assist customers. Software knowledge will elevate the job applicant’s resume among others.
- Problem-solving Techniques: Analyzing the problem and providing a relevant solution. If the solution needs another team’s assistance, routing the query or call the related team.
- Endurance: Customers may sometimes act rudely or be relentless but the customer service professional needs to maintain a calm pace always and act professionally.
- Customer Friendly: Maintain a professional relationship with the customer. Achieving customer satisfaction benefits the employee’s career performance.
Additional customer skills include:
- Soft skills
Active listening, Time management, Operations, Leadership, Conflict Resolution, Relationship building, Multitasking, Assistance, Empathy, Team player, Organized.
- Hard skills
Data entry, Microsoft Office, Bilingual, Retail Sales, Sales, Typing, Point of Sale (POS) Systems, Accuracy, Product Knowledge.
Other skills and details to be included in the resume:
- Awards & Certification
When the job applicant has additional skills or rewards that they believe could elevate their resume, list them under this section.
Some examples:
Best Employee of the Year 2019 – XYZ Convenience
Learning How to Learn – Coursera Certificate
Customer Bonding – Online certification
- Personal Details
The job applicant can list out their details in this section, which includes:
- Family Details (optional) – One could list out their parents’ names in this section. It is purely optional.
- Gender (optional) – Specify the job applicant’s gender. This is optional data.
- Marital Status (optional) – Specify single/married. This field is also optional.
- Address (optional) – Specify the exact address of residence. This field is an optional one.
- Languages Known
Irrespective of the job profile’s requirement, the job applicant’s ability to know multiple languages is an added advantage.
In this section, list out the languages known and rank them by proficiency:
- Native
- Fluent
- Proficient
- Intermediate
- Basic
Example:
English – Proficient, German – Basic
- Interests or Hobbies
An organization will have other activities or events at the office premises apart from the regular work. So, it is good to specify one’s area of interest or hobbies.
Examples:
Singing
Dancing
A Hockey player at National level game
Chess player
Puzzle or sudoku solving
Sample Customer Service – Resume
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Joe Michael
Denver, CO • (123) 456-7891
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SUMMARY
Efficient Senior Customer Service specialist with 7+ years of experience in a fast-paced helpdesk environment. Skilled at converting customer feedback into action-oriented insights that improve revenue, increase customer trustworthiness, and improve processes.
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EDUCATION
University of Pittsburgh
August 2007 – May 2011
Bachelor of Science in Psychology
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EXPERIENCE
ZEN SUPPORT, Senior Customer Service Specialist
Jul ’19 – Current
- Handled 300+ inbound calls per week, answering customer inquiries and resolving any raised issues or concerns
- Collaborate with management to determine the root cause of reported problems, when they are recurring
- Created email templates for customer service communication that is used across the company to interact with customers
BENNY & BAWN, Customer Service Representative
Aug ’15 – Jul ’19
- Responded an average of 70+ calls per day from customers which were related to delays in shipment, order mistakes, and lost orders
- Awarded as “Best Customer Service Representative” two years in a row for highest customer satisfaction ratings (35% above average)
- Restored customer service phone scripts, increasing customer survey ratings by 30%
SALES PORT, Customer Service Representative
Jan ’13 – Aug ’15
- Attended over 150 customer grievances per week via call and addressed them in-person as well
- A training manual that helped to reduce the onboarding process period was created single-handedly on my own.
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SKILLS
- Fluent in English and Spanish
- Experience with business processes
- Zendesk, Hubspot, Helpscout
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Conclusion
A Customer service resume should have a specific resume format depending on the job applicant’s criteria. Must have an attention-drawing resume summary that reflects one’s relevancy to the applying role. It should have clear and detailed job experiences that show one’s ability to perform the required task. Apart from all this, it is good to have other skill sets and talents that might interest the employer.
