Customer Service Resumes Writing Tips

Resume Writing Tips for Customer Service Positions
Many job seekers have gained experience in customer service in retail and clerical positions. Yet, their job titles often do not present a strong image when included in their resumes. As a result, result many job seekers do not land interviews for higher paying Customer Service Representative positions. This had happened to Terry. She had worked for a Salvage Company as a Production Lead and as a Cashier for a toy store and a drive-up restaurant.

However, she had been given responsibility for managing customer service operations and staff that greatly exceeded her job titles. As an example, we’ll look at two abbreviated sections from Terry’s before and after resumes that appear in both of my booklets: Proven Resumes: Strategies That Increase Salaries and 6 Easy Steps to Create Resumes and Cover Letters for Customer Service Students.

Clerical Skills:
Wordprocessing application skills include MS Word for Windows, Excel and spreadsheets.
Coordinated multi-line phones for 100 departments and 200 extensions.

Customer Service Experience:
Over 5 years working with the public.
Assisted over 200 customers daily simultaneously, over the phone and in person.
Handled over $10,000 cash daily, accurately.

Supervision and Training:
Supervised and trained up to 6 employees in cashiering and stocking.
Trained employees in order processing.

Since Terry had just completed a nine-month Customer Service Program, she wanted to emphasize the office and computer skills she had gained so she started her resume with those skills. She then described her customer service and supervisory experience. Reviewing the sections shown above, what salary range do you think Terry was qualified for?

Now let’s take a look at an abbreviated section from Terry’s after resume that she created by using my booklet, 6 Easy Steps to Create Resumes and Cover Letters for Customer Service Students. Does your image of Terry’s skills change immediately--knowing that she know wants a corporate Customer Service Representative position? Who would you call for an interview?

Customer Service Representative
Managed my own station in addition to training and supervising staff providing customer service to over 600 customers, processing up to $21,000 daily.

Staff Supervision / Training
Supervised and trained over 40 managers and customer service staff in sales, cashiering, problem solving, inventory control and schematics.

Computerized Office Applications
Produced reports including sales, transaction analysis and staffing reports. Prepared correspondence, tables, charts and spreadsheets utilizing Word for Windows and Excel.

By using over 400 skill heading and sample sentence lists in 6 Easy Steps to Create Resumes and Cover Letters for Customer Service Students, Terry was able to identify and describe her best skills. The resumes, cover letters, thank you letters and scanned resumes in this booklet were written strictly for customer service and targeted for positions in the $8 to $16 an hour range.

$9,000 Salary Increase
The first resume workshop in this site shows how Fran's after resume resulted in a $9,000 salary increase. Fran wanted a $33,000 Corporate Customer Representative job but her resume created an image of her being at a $20,000 to 24,000 salary level -- that's $9,000 to $13,000 beneath her goal.

What Level Does Your Resume Market You At?
If you are curious to see what level your resume is marketing you at … then be sure to read and use the graphing techniques in my first workshop. By graphing the job titles used in Fran's resume it's easy to see why her resume failed … and once you understand this … you will understand why the majority of resumes fail. You'll then understand how to analyze your job titles and see if you are better off using them or replacing them with skill headings that market you more effectively.

Most People Have Job Titles that Weaken Their Image
I estimate that at least 85% of all job seekers have job titles unrelated to their current career goals … and that they are much better off using skill headings rather than job titles to land higher salaries and double and triple their interview rates.

For example, Fran had been a Directory Operator but in most people's minds that doesn't sound like she's at the level of a Corporate Customer Representative making $33,000 … that's because most people don't view directory operators as providing true customer service. Most people say that Directory Operator sounds like someone making only $20,000. However, by using the 12 Questions in my Proven Resumes Series, Fran wrote a new description of her duties as a Directory Operator that described her being selected out of 100 Directory Operators to provide specialized Customer Service to the Governor's Office and Political Dignitaries in the Washington State Capitol … now that information begins to change our image of Fran doesn't it? That makes her sound much more like someone being able to command $33,000.

Which sounds like a better match for the $33,000 Corporate Customer Service Representative goal… her old job title of Directory Operator … or a skill heading like Customer Service Representative to State of Washington Account. In Fran's actual resume we used the heading of Customer Service Representative but you can see how you can play with skill headings to control and elevate your image … this is one strategy I explain in detail with examples throughout my book, Proven Resumes: Strategies That Have Increased Salaries, and one of the strongest things I can offer you as a resume writer … just in case you don't have the time or patience to write your own.

Going from 0% to 100% Interview Rate
By using skill headings that matched her goal, Fran went from a 0% interview rate to a 100% interview rate -- meaning none of her prior resumes had landed an interview but her new resume landed an interview for each position she applied for.

Click here to learn other ways we improved Fran's resume and landed her a job paying $9,000 more click here to read my first set of resume workshops! If you've entered my site via this page, be sure to go to my home page for an overview of more than 60 Free Resume & Job Search Workshops that include tons of Resume Tips for 45 Career Fields, Job Search, Electronic Resume, Cover Letter, Interviewing, Networking and Confidence Building strategies.

The testimonials at the top of this page and throughout my site describe salary increases ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 and more. Here's one of my most recent ones:

Regina, the resume you wrote caught the attention of the world's leading software manufacturer. Thanks for helping inspire me through your thoughtful questions and objective interpretation of my work history.

I'm sure it made a big difference in my ability to be recognized in a competitive environment and cross the $100,000 threshold. By the way, the offer I accepted was an increase of $25K annually (21% increase).

Rachel Pizarro, Senior Sales Account Executive / Operations Manager

If you have extensive customer service, supervisory, retail management, sales or related background--and are seeking a salary in the $24,000 to $70,000+ range--then I recommend my newest booklet, Proven Resumes: Strategies That Have Increased Salaries. It includes skill lists and sample sentences for 40 career fields including Customer Service & Management, Retail Management, General Management, Sales and Marketing.

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