Customer Service Representative Resume Examples 2023

You may have the acumen of a seasoned pro and the patience of a chopping block, but if your customer service representative resume offers no evidence of your skills… 

…guess what the recruiter’s response time is going to be? Yup, infinity. And the last thing you want is to wait that long to get the job. Worried? Don’t be. You’re about to learn how to make a kick-ass customer service resume that will make your phone ring like crazy.

This guide will show you:

• A customer service resume sample better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
• How to write a customer service representative resume that will land you more interviews.
• Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a customer service representative resume.
• How to prepare the best customer service job description for a resume to get any job you want.

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Use this resume template

Sample Customer Service Resume—See more resume examples here.

Looking for other retail and customer service resume examples? We’ve got you covered:

• Customer Service Manager Resume
• Customer Success Manager Resume
• Call Center Supervisor Resume
• Cashier Resume
• Help Desk Resume
• Hotel Front Desk Resume
• Front Desk Receptionist Resume
• Retail Resume
• Grocery Store Resume
• Sales Associate Resume
• Retail Manager Resume
• Store Manager Resume
• Walmart Resume
• Collector Resume
• Hostess Resume
• Car Salesman Resume
• Retail Sales Associate Resume
• Flight Attendant Resume
• Pharmaceutical Sales Resume
• Call Center Resume
• Technical Support Resume
• Sales Representative Resume
• Amazon Resume
• Uber Driver Resume
• Good Resume Example for Any Job (Free)

1

What’s the Best Format for a Customer Service Resume?

Here’s the thing:

Before the recruiter decides to actually read your resume—

You must earn 7 seconds of their attention.

This is how little time they’ll spend scanning your resume for customer service, according to our HR statistics report.

So—

If you want to be sure you make a great impression, go for the chronological resume.

Why?

It highlights your experience and key achievements, for one thing.

And—

It’s perfectly scannable and navigable, for another.

That said:

If you’re a career changer, you might want to take a peek at what the functional resume format looks like.

Here’s a couple of things you should always have in the back of your mind when formatting a customer service representative resume:

• Embrace white space. It gives your resume a clean and well-organized look.
• Stick to a resume-friendly font. It looks professional, simple as that.
• Make sure your resume is ATS-friendly.
• Write simple headings. They will help the recruiter find the information they’re looking for.

Plus:

If you want to be 100% sure your CSR resume keeps its shape on all devices and operating systems, save it as a PDF file.

And now—

You’re ready to write the first section of your customer service resume.

Still fuzzy about the best format for your customer service resume? Here’s a resume writing guide that will clear things up: Best Resume Format: Which to Choose?

Your customer service resume objective is like the first ticket on a given day—

It sets the tone for whatever happens next.

This is why you must prove to the recruiter you’re worthy of their attention right off the bat.

How?

Start your resume with a smashing opening statement.

But—

Before you learn how to nail your resume objective or summary, let's clear things up a bit.

• Resume objective for customer service highlights your skills and explains why you’re a perfect fit. The opening statement of this kind works best for candidates with limited work experience.
• Customer service summary for a resume is a brief… summary of your relevant professional experience and key achievements. It’s perfect for candidates with previous experience in customer service.

Resume Objective Examples for a Customer Service Resume

These two resume headline examples for customer service differ substantially.

The first candidate markets themselves like a pro:

• They start their customer service objective with strong character traits.
• Give a brief summary of their education and academic achievements (GPA in this case.)
• Refer to the employer by name, and specify how they can help and what they can offer.
• Mention previous work experience.

Well, this is what smile-inducing resume objectives for customer service look like.

In contrast—

The wrong customer service resume example reads like a generic description copy-pasted from a random website.

Not to mention it’s all about taking, not giving.

Resume summary examples for customer service

Again—

The differences between these two resume summary examples for customer service are striking.

The first candidate’s customer service professional summary follows this surefire formula:

1. Start off with your strong traits.
2. Show how much experience you have.
3. Say why you want to join the company.
4. Show what you can offer.
5. Mention your biggest achievement(s).

And—

6. Put numbers wherever you can.

Remember: numbers speak louder than words.

Now look back at the wrong example of the customer service summary for a resume.

It doesn’t say much, does it?

You don’t want your resume summary for customer service to stay mum.

You want it to scream:

Pick me!

Still confused about how to write your customer service resume objective or summary? Don’t panic. Here’s a selection of guides that will not only take you through the writing process step by step but show you some great examples:

• 20+ Career Objective Examples
• Professional Resume Summary: 30 Examples and How-To Guide

When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.

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When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.

3

The Best Customer Service Job Description for a Resume

This is your new KPI:

End the recruitment process today—

For the other 249 candidates who have applied.

Not sure how?

Describe your customer service experience on a resume so it shows you have it all.

Here’s the action plan:

First off—

Find a customer service job that’s in line with your qualifications and experience level.

Like this one:

• Attracts potential customers by answering product and service questions; suggesting information about other products and services.
• Opens customer accounts by recording and verifying account information.
• Cancel or upgrade account information.
• Place or cancel orders from direct customers, distributors and agents.
• Maintains customer records by updating account information.
• Resolves product issues (customer complaints) by clarifying the customer's complaint; determining the cause of the problem; selecting and explaining the best solution to solve the problem; expediting correction or adjustment; following up to ensure resolution.
• May compile/provide reports on overall customer satisfaction.

For your convenience, the yellow highlights point at the skills the recruiter (and the ATS) will be looking for on your customer service representative resume.

At this point, you probably know what you need to do.

That’s right.

You must tailor your resume to the job offer.

Here’s what your customer service representative job description for a resume may look like:

Customer Service Representative Resume Example—Job Description

Take a good look at the right customer service resume example.

That’s how a job-winning customer service job description looks.

Let’s break it down now.

98% of Fortune 500 Companies use the so-called Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software to streamline their recruitment processes.

To cut a long story short—

The ATS scans resumes for customer service for keywords. The ones you can find in the original job posting.

If the ATS is unable to find the keywords, your resume won’t pass the scanning stage.

Sorry.

That’s the reason why your job description section must use the customer service resume keywords you can find in the job ad.

But there’s more.

After the ATS scan, your resume will go to a human recruiter. If they see you only copy-pasted the phrases from the job listing, they’ll give your resume a miss.

And that’s the last thing you want.

So—

Your customer representative resume must make an impression on the recruiter as well.

Here’s how:

• Make sure you use resume action words to highlight your customer service skills
• Present your achievements, not responsibilities. The difference? Achievements show how well you’re able to carry out your responsibilities. They’re your responsibilities proven with numbers.

Speaking of achievements:

Select 2-3 things you really take pride in and—

Give them more prominence.

How?

By listing them in a dedicated key achievements subsection.

Just take another look at the customer service representative description for a resume above.

That’s the way to go!

Pro Tip: If you’re writing a career change resume and want to describe your customer service experience, you can follow exactly the same rules. Remember: relevance is key.

What about a customer service representative resume with no experience?

There’s only one rule:

Never leave the experience section empty.

But—

How do you put customer service skills description on a resume if you’ve got no experience?

Here’s the good news:

Almost all entry-level customer service jobs require you to have great communication, interpersonal, problem-solving, and soft skills.

The rest you can learn on the job.

The key is to show your best side on the resume.

So, take some time to brainstorm any kind of public interaction you’ve engaged in.

Make a list.

Pick the items that best fit the job description: perhaps you have experience in data entry? Maybe you're familiar with Zendesk?

Make sure you include everything you've done related to customer service on your resume.

Not sure how to do it? Here’s our step-by-step guide on how to write the first resume with no work experience.

Maybe you’ve had internship experience where you’ve helped someone deal with a problem?

Think about it!

Just remember:

Your entry-level customer service resume isn’t about listing all the things you’ve ever done.

It’s about highlighting your relevant experience.

Relevance is king.

It lands interviews.

If you’re confused about how you can show off your relevant experience, here’s a guide that will help you: Work History & Experience on a Resume

How to increase the recruiter’s CSAT score by 200 percent?

By showing them you’ve got all the customer service skills they’re looking for. And then some more!

The best part?

If you’ve done your job description right, you’ve already included quite a number of relevant skills.

Look:

Customer Service Resume—Example

If we extract all the customer service resume skills from this job description, the list we’re left with will look more or less like this:

• Oral communication
• Written communication
• Problem-solving
• Troubleshooting
• Data entry
• Computer skills
• Analytical skills
• Customer needs recognition
• Listening skills
• Organizational skills
• Time management skills

See?

All the skills the hiring manager is seeking are part and parcel of your customer service representative resume job description.

More than that.

They’re all put in the context of your achievements, which makes them twice as impressive.

How’s that even possible?

Well—

If you based your customer service job description on the job ad, this is exactly what you get!

But we can take it a step further.

Give your customer service skills more prominence by listing them in a separate key skills section on your resume of a customer service representative.

At this point, you may want to cast another glance at the job listing.

See if there are any customer service resume skills you possess, but which you haven’t been able to work into your experience section.

If you find any, just add them to the list.

Pro Tip: Don’t go overboard with your skills. List up to 10 and pick the ones you’re really good at. This way you’ll not fall victim to the so-called presenter’s paradox.

Looking for more inspiration as to what skills would look great on a customer service resume? Take a look at the lists below:

Customer Service Skills for a Resume

• Being Detail-Oriented
• Improving Customer Experience
• Positive Attitude
• Bilingual Customer Support
• Time Management
• Interpersonal Skills
• Complaint Resolution
• Communication
• Patience
• Problem Solving
• Cross Selling / Up-Selling
• Service-Based Selling / Telesales
• Building Customer Loyalty 

• Dixa
• ERP
• Freshdesk
• Jira Service Desk
• MS Excel
• Microsoft Office
• MS PowerPoint
• MS Word
• MyTalk
• Product Knowledge
• Salesforce
• Talkdesk
• Zendesk

And finally—

Make sure you sprinkle your relevant skills throughout your entire customer service resume. Put them in your customer service resume objective, job description, and key skills sections.

Still wondering about the best skills for your customer service representative resume? Here’s a guide that you need: 99 Key Skills for a Resume (Best List of Examples for All Types of Jobs)

Listen:

If your experience is nothing short of monumental, and you’ve got the hard-working mindset worthy of Sponge Bob (and you can prove it!)—

You will get the job.

Even if you happen to forget to include the education section at all.

But—

More and more customer service representative positions require you to be educated.

Just look at this excerpt from a job opening:

• Minimum High School Diploma. Preferred qualification is some college with a technical discipline.

The bottom line?

Don’t neglect the education section on your customer service representative resume.

So—

If you’re applying for an entry-level position and don’t have much work experience:

Don’t just list the school name.

Add information on the relevant coursework and extracurricular activities that can help you succeed in the role:

Customer Service Resume Sample—Education

As you become more and more experienced, the recruiters will naturally start to pay more attention to your achievements.

That’s why in your customer service manager resume you can stick to listing graduation date, school name, and degree earned.

Pro Tip: Let’s say you didn’t finish your college degree. You can still add your credits to your resume. Just add a line: “Obtained 90 credits toward a BA in Psychology.” Haven't started college? Put your high school degree on a resume.

And one more thing.

Don’t forget to list your customer service certifications. Put them in a separate section:

Example of Customer Service Resume—Certifications

• Certified Customer Service Professional (CCSP)
• Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCEP)
• NLP Practitioner Certification
• Spanish Language Certificate

Still unsure how to deal with the education section of your customer service representative resume? Read our guide on How to Put Your Education on a Resume

Writing a cover letter feels like working with a rotary dial phone and an abacus.

Well—

It shouldn’t.

Cover letters still matter.

Why?

A well-written cover letter proves your communication skills. It’s a chance for you to fill in all the blank spots on your customer service representative resume.

And—

It introduces the person behind the achievements.

To nail your customer representative cover letter, make sure to:

1. Keep it short and to-the-point.
2. Tell the story behind your customer service resume.
3. Write it clearly and keep it well organized.

Easy!

Well—

That’s until you get down to writing it.

Your mind is very likely to go blank.

Fret not.

Our comprehensive guide on how to write a perfect cover letter in 8 simple steps will surely help you out.

In fact—

We’ve deconstructed the entire cover letter writing process into its component parts. Here’s a selection of guides that will show you:

• How to Address a Cover Letter
• How to Start a Cover Letter
• How to End a Cover Letter

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Key Takeaway

Writing a customer service representative resume is something more than dumping all your skills into a good looking customer service resume template.

To make a job-winning retail customer service resume:

1. Start with a snappy customer service resume objective or summary.
2. Create a compelling customer service representative job description for your resume.
3. Choose an elegant format for your customer service resume.
4. Attach a customer service resume cover letter to show your prospective employer what you’ve got to offer.

And—

Good luck in your interview.

Are you writing a call center customer service resume? Or perhaps you’re a seasoned CS professional eager to help the rookies out? We’d love to hear from you, leave your comment below!