As a call center agent, you are the voice of your company. Whether you're the first human a customer has had contact with, or dealing with a customer who has had an unsatisfactory experience, your goal is a positive outcome by the end of the call.
Your call center resume is a great place to show that you know how to give people what they want. In fact, the key to your job hunt will be to create a resume that shows employers that you have what they want.
How do you craft your skills, employment history and personality into a document that gets you that all-important interview? Resume.io is a great source of advice and practical tools to answer that question. Check out any of the 350+ resume examples and writing guides in our free library.
This guide, along with an adaptable call center agent resume example, will cover these aspects of your job hunt:
- What does a call center agent do?
- How to write a call center agent resume
- The best resume format for a call center agent
- Advice for writing each section of your resume: header, summary, employment history, skills, and education
- Professional resume layout and design hints.
What does a call center agent do?
Call center agents are customer service professionals who act as liaisons between companies and potential clients. Depending on your job, you may handle outgoing calls to schedule appointments or respond to customer requests or complaints. Your goal? Provide optimal customer service and customer satisfaction with every phone call.
To be a successful call center agent, you should be well versed in the company’s products and policies so that you can offer solutions that will leave you with a happy customer and a happy boss.
How can I assist you today?
Call center agents need a cache of polite phrases to use with customers. Here are some recommended phrases you should add to your work repertoire:
- That’s a great question! Let me find out for you.
- I understand how frustrating (upsetting, worrying, etc.) that is!
- Can you give me a few more details?
- Thanks for your patience.
- I completely understand why you’re making that request.
The impression customers have of a company may depend solely on their interactions with call center representatives. As such, call center agents help to strengthen the relationship between the company and existing clients, while also working to form new ones.
The good news is that without any higher education, a call center agent can earn a salary higher than the minimum wage. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median pay for customer service reps (there is no subcategory for call center agents) in 2021 was $36,920 per year. The bad news is that demand for customer service representatives is expected to drop by 42% from 202119-203129.
How to write a call center agent resume
Before you begin writing, it’s important to know what sections compose your call center agent resume. It should contain the following elements:
- The resume header
- The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
- The employment history section
- The resume skills section
- The education section
Successful customer service as a call center agent requires just the right tone. So does your resume. In fact, the tone of your resume should echo your tone as a friendly, helpful voice on the call. If you have any doubts, of course you must err on the side of professionalism.
Your goal is to show off your excellent communication skills, while explaining to your customer (in this case, your prospective employer) how you can help.
Why personalize your call center agent resume?
Every resume should be personalized. Why? The simple answer is that every job is different. Tailoring your resume is particularly important for a call center agent because you need to demonstrate that you understand the company’s image, products and style to accurately represent them to a customer.
But that’s not the only reason to tailor your resume: applicant tracking systems (ATS) are your other reason for making the effort.
What is an applicant tracking system?
This software is used by human resources departments to scan and sort job applications. The ATS uses algorithms to rank resumes based on information such as keywords and phrases tagged to the job. Only the top-ranking resumes make it into the hands of a person. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to get those keywords and phrases that are found in the job listing into your resume (if appropriate, of course).
For additional tips and advice, you can check out these resume examples and writing guides from Resume.io's collection.
- Customer service representative resume example
- Customer success resume example
- Customer success manager resume example
- Telemarketer resume example
- Sales associate resume example
- Sales assistant resume example
Best format for a call center agent resume
The traditional format for a call center agent resume is shared with most entry-level positions (and most jobs in general) — chronological.
This resume format is defined by your employment history section in three aspects:
- Your employment history lists jobs from most recent to oldest.
- This same section is the largest and most prominent on your resume (in terms of space and amount of text.
- Each past job has a bullet point list of duties and/or achievements written out beneath it.
However, if you are just starting out on the job market (for example as a recent graduate) you might want to opt for the functional or hybrid (combination) resume format meaning. This offers some flexibility to move other resume sections: you can move up other sections — such as your education or skills if they show you in a better light — up higher on the resume page. If you don't have much work experience to brag about, simply renaming your employment history section as "experience," and listing part-time gigs or personal projects, is also an option.
With any resume, the goal is to show yourself in the most winning way possible. If that's best accomplished by emphasizing your education or list of abilities and qualities — go right ahead!
Resume header
In the same way that your voice is meant to give callers an initial positive impression when you answer, the purpose of an eye-pleasing header is to introduce yourself on the resume page in a a visually engaging manner. This is where the reader’s eyes will be drawn first, and it also makes everything else look inviting to read. The prominence of your name, email, and phone number also makes it easy for recruiters to get in touch with you later to arrange an interview.
Call center agent resume summary example: your friendly introduction
Your call center agent summary, sometimes called the profile or personal statement, is your chance to illustrate your helpful nature and communication skills. You won’t get a chance in the more strictly formatted sections of your resume, so take advantage of these 100 or so words.
You will probably be asking the question quite often after you get the job: How can I help you today? But for now, it’s the question you are answering to your future boss. Use your summary to show off your biggest customer service success and choose in a few strong words to describe your personality and skills.
Data and details go a long way toward making your case. If you can point to how many satisfactory customer interactions you had per day, week or month, use that! Or, tell the story of one particularly difficult case you resolved.
Read the call center agent resume example below for an idea of what a summary may sound like.
Friendly and proficient Inbound Customer Service Agent with 12+ years of exceptional customer service experience. Proven track record as an effective liaison between companies and their clients, with a solution-focused mindset in addressing the needs of callers in a confident, poised and professional manner. Consistently outperform the EMS team average by maintaining a +90% or higher customer satisfaction rate and acing new product knowledge with 100% accuracy.
Employment history sample: dial into your achievements
Whether you’ve had one previous job or many, you’ve honed your customer service skills along the way. Your employment history section should be a record of that growth. Use bullet points under each dated employer heading to give hiring managers an idea of what you will bring to the job based on your past work experience.
If you are entering the job market for the first time, congratulations! You can focus more on your education, but here you should list any volunteer work, casual jobs or positions of responsibility at school, in clubs or organizations. Think in terms of the transferable skills you gained in those instances that will be applicable to the position you desire. In this case, as stated previously, you can call this resume section “experience” instead of “employment history.”
How important are call center agents? In answer to the question: “Have you ever stopped doing business with a brand due to poor customer service?” 61% of respondents said yes, according to the “State of Global Customer Service Report.”
Use this resume sample text for an employment history as a starting point.
Customer Service Agent at EMS Call Center, Los Angeles
September 2015 - present
- Adopt a proactive, problem-solving mindset to determine the needs of 80 customers on average per shift and effectively respond by researching, locating, and relaying the correct information.
- Maintain the call center database by collecting and recording information for all 14 customer service agents assigned to the same shift.
- Collaborate with manufacturers and vendors to provide answers to customer questions, with monthly customer service satisfaction ratings averaging 90% to 96%.
- Named agent of the month 12 times since being hired.
Customer Service Agent at Xylo Corporation, Santa Barbara
October 2013 - September 2015
- Helped to maintain and increase customer loyalty by placing follow up calls and expressing consideration for customers.
- Achieved a customer satisfaction rating of 97% within 8 months of employment.
- Named “Outstanding Customer Service Agent” award five times.
Front Desk Associate at Hilton, Arizona
August 2011 - October 2013
- Managed a group of four associates, helping promote the Hilton brand by providing outstanding customer service.
CV skills example
The CV skills section is designed to highlight your abilities so that busy recruiters can scan quickly to see if you have what they are looking for. As a call center agent, you need many more skills than simply a friendly phone voice or the ability to listen.
Scan the job listing to confirm what is important to your potential employer and make sure you list all the skills you have that match.
A secondary reason your skills section carries weight is that it tells hiring managers what attributes you believe are important to highlight.
Here are nine skills you’ll need to be a great call center rep:
- Ability to retain company information
- Detail orientation
- Organization
- Flexibility
- Friendliness
- Calm under pressure
- Excellent communication
- Speed
- Creativity*
*Source: TalkDesk
This resume sample text for a call center agent shows the succinct way you should develop your skills section.
- Excellent Communication Skills
- Patience
- Fast Typing Skills
- Resourceful
- Bilingual
Call center agent resume education example
Much of your call center agent training will come on the job, as each company has its own system for handling customers. You will also need to learn about products and services offered. Therefore, getting that call center job generally does not require any higher education. A high school diploma will get your career off the ground.
Otherwise, your resume’s education section is a simple listing of any relevant degrees, diplomas, and certifications you have, and courses completed through continuing education avenues. These should be listed in reverse chronological order from highest to lowest level
Below is the resume education section from our call center agent example.
B.S. in Communications, Arizona State University, Tempe
Aug 2008 - May 2012
High School Diploma, Tempe High School, Tempe
Sep 2004 - May 2008
Resume layout and design: first impressions
Just as you are a representative of the company for which you work, your call center representative resume is a representative of your professional self. What impression do you want recruiters to come away with? Clean, neat, organized, detail-oriented? Yes!
Here are some tips to do so:
- Keep your design simple (avoid graphics, pictures and too much color)
- Leave ample white space to avoid a cramped look
- Use standard section headings to make it easy for recruiters to find what they need
- Make your contact information stand out
- Have a trusted friend or colleague proofread to avoid spelling or grammatical errors that will disprove your detail-oriented nature
- Match your cover letter format (check out ours here) to your resume
- Try one of our expert-approved resume templates to take the guesswork out of formatting.
Key takeaways for a call center agent resume
- Call center agents are a key part of the team and the voice of the company, so they must adjust their tone and style to project the right image.
- Your friendly nature and excellent communication skills will help you craft a winning resume.
- Personalize your call center agent resume to show you understand the company’s image and to rank higher with the ATS.
- Use our online resume builder with your choice of resume template as a way to make your life easier and the job application process faster!
