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Resumes for Customer Service Managers

Customer service is recognized as one of the more stressful jobs, especially during a holiday season and pandemic that puts every customer in a fragile, irritable, fearful, and demanding mood. Stress has a negative effect on the ability of a customer service department to maintain productivity, accuracy, communication skills, and enthusiasm. Customer service managers who know how to motivate a team under those conditions are priceless.

In one Australian study, call center employees took more sick days than the nationwide average, 8.2 days compared to 7.4 days for all other careers. Moreover, an Eagle Hill Consulting survey found that 64% of U. S. workers believe their experience at work directly affects their ability to serve customers—stress is contagious.

To combat absenteeism and stress, the following skills are highly valued in customer service managers:

  • The willingness to recognize others for their contribution. A survey by Authentic Recognition found that 29% of employees receive no recognition and 17% were only thanked for the efforts once during an entire year—that’s nearly half of all employees.
  • An understanding of technology and metrics. Customer service may require a human touch but behind that is state-of-the art research, data gathering, and communication technology. Metrics may include Key Performance Indicators such as the number of customers served.
  • Resilience to angry customers. Good managers are able to keep their composure, look for compromise or solutions, and—very important—step in without blame if a situation escalates. Good training will also ensure that the customer service team is able to step up when needed.

Your ability to provide these skills and others (such as communication skills, knowledge of industry specific programs, and collaboration) is key to career advancement and to changing jobs. You may want to take courses such as managing a customer contact center and team, building customer loyalty, and using customer surveys to improve service. A college degree may or may not be necessary, depending on the company.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts a 10% growth rate for customer service jobs, which is higher than the average of all occupations. While artificial intelligence will (and already has) take over some customer service jobs and responsibilities, even artificial intelligence (AI) needs customer service representatives to fix problems! As many industry specialists point out, jobs that require feeling and empathy are beyond the reach of AI.

Contact Robin’s Resumes® if you need help creating a resume that gets you started or advances your career in customer service management.

New Emphasis on Skills by Hiring Managers

A recent article in BusinessNH Magazine discussed how colleges are rethinking degree programs to provide credentials in the specific skill sets that companies and hiring managers want most. The article told the story of a general manager in a large company who was asked what degree would be helpful for his employees. The manager could not name any degree, but he could give a list of specific skills.

Industry has long offered credentials in a specific skill set (think Lean, Six Sigma, or FINRA certifications) but colleges have always focused on degrees, not certifications. In fact, in many industries and positions, a degree bears little or no relationship whatever to the hard and soft skills required for success. This lack of relationship does not mean that a college degree has no value; however, colleges are now recognizing that, in many cases, credentials mean more to hiring managers and recruiters than a specific degree.

How does that affect your resume?

  • You should be aware that your college major is not a sentence for life! If you majored in accounting, for example, and truly dislike it, aim for another career, perhaps one where your accounting background is an asset but not what you do daily. It is the job of your resume to target the position you want while selling hiring managers and recruiters on the value-added that you offer.
  • If certifications in your field are offered at your college or in your industry, consider becoming certified in addition to or in place of pursuing a college degree. When you come to an employer with certifications in hand, you are automatically more desirable. It is the job of your resume to promote the certifications you have gained.
  • Any experience in the workplace is better than no experience because you acquire transferable skills in every position you hold. It is the job of your resume to convince employers that those skills are in fact transferable.

Robin’s Resumes® helps you to make sure that your skills are described in a way that makes you a valuable prospect for hiring managers—even in fields that differ from your degree. Contact us today.

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