The 10 Best Customer Service Jobs

The 10 Best Customer Service Jobs The 10 Best Customer Service Jobs Are you considering a career in customer service? It’s a good choice and an occupation with a 5% increase in projected job growth over the next ten years. There are customer service jobs available in almost every industry. Top employers include call centers, brick-and-mortar and online retailers, credit card companies and agencies, insurance companies, and financial institutions. Those aren’t the only jobs available for job seekers with strong customer service skills. If you have the right skill set and the desire to help people, you’ll find a variety of different job options to consider. You’ll also have the opportunity for job growth and will be able to move up the career ladder. In many cases, without additional education and training. Here’s information on some of the best jobs that require customer service skills, the credentials you need to get hired, what you can expect to get paid, and how to find job listings.   Top 10 Customer Service Jobs Here is a sampling of the types of jobs available in customer service. Depending on the position and the company, you may be able to work remotely for some of these jobs. For most positions, being able to work flexible day, evening and weekend jobs is a plus. Call Center Agent: You could work at a virtual call center from home or work inside a call center. Regardless of where you work, you’ll answer phone or email inquiries from customers. Depending on the job, you’ll place orders, respond to and handle customer issues, or make appointments. Call center staff are expected to handle a high volume of calls and to have excellent communication and problem-solving skills.Concierge: Do you love helping people? Do you know all the best places to go in your city or town? Many hotels have concierges on staff who book reservations, suggest activities and arrange transportation for guests. Virtual concierges do many of the same tasks, either on the phone or online through a messaging system or email. Client Relations Associate: Client relations staff are the employees who build and maintain relationships with an organization’s most important customers. This is a hands-on position working with assigned clients to make sure that they are happy with the company’s services and products.  Your job is to ensure client satisfaction and to work with team members, other company departments, and external vendors to ensure that the customer’s needs are met.Client Services Coordinator: Client services coordinators get things done. They may handle order processing, setting up and coordinating services, tracking deliveries and installations, and resolving customer issues. This job requires solid phone skills and the ability to juggle a lot of tasks. Customer Service Representative: Customer service representative is the catch-all job title for many different roles in customer service. Customer service representatives interact with customers to process orders, provide information about an organization’s products and services, and resolve issues.  Almost every organization provides some level of customer service, and jobs are plentiful.Front Desk Associate / Receptionist: If you have great interpersonal skills and the ability to handle in-person and phone communications, a front desk position is a good job option. If you’re working in a corporate setting, it may be a typical 9 a.m.-5 p.m. job. For hotel, resort, medical and hospitality positions you will probably need more availability. Member Services Specialist: Member services specialists provide a high level of customer care to members. It could be an elite credit card holder or a client of a bank or an insurance company, for example. The job entails answering questions, providing services, and explaining benefits to members. Hours and pay vary, depending on who you’re working for.Patient Care Coordinator: Patient care coordinators work for doctors’ offices, hospitals, medical centers, rehabilitation centers, health care agencies, and insurance companies. They schedule appointments, get approval for and arrange services and procedures. For most positions, you’ll need to be familiar with medical terminology and the job may require prior experience in a healthcare setting. Social Media Customer Care Associate: A social media customer care associate is the person who handles your tweet or Facebook post saying you’re unhappy with a company’s products or services.  This role involves monitoring an organization’s social media accounts, responding to inquiries, helping to resolve issues, and escalating problems to a manager when necessary.Technical Support Representative: If you have solid technical skills, product-specific software, application or hardware skills, and the ability to troubleshoot, solve problems, in addition to people skills, consider a tech support role. This in-demand job may require a college degree, certification or training. This job could be done remotely. For example, Apple hires At-Home Advisors. The Skills You Need to Get Hired A good candidate for a career in customer service will have great listening, communication, and phone skills, and should excel at problem-solving, documentation, resolving conflict, analyzing information, relationship building, and multi-tasking. Many customer service jobs are entry-level positions, with the potential for growth in supervisory and management capacities. Most customer service positions require a high school diploma and familiarity with computers. Many will provide on-the-job training. For management positions, a college degree or experience is required, and excellent communication skills and customer orientation are necessary. In a customer service position, you will interact with customers to provide information, handle complaints, and process orders. What You Can Expect to Earn The median pay in 2017 for customer service representatives was $32,890 per year or  $15.81 per hour.  Compensation will vary based on the role you’re hired for, how much experience you have, and whether you are working part-time or full-time. The job outlook is strong, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reporting  that employment of customer service representatives is expected to grow 5  percent from 2016 to 2026, as fast as the average for all occupations. How to Find Job Listings One of the quickest ways to find jobs to apply for is to search Indeed.com, which has job listings from many different sources. Search by job title, keyword, and location to find jobs that are a match for your interests. If you want to work from home add “remote” or “work from home” to your query. Another fast way to find job postings when you know of a company you’re interested in working for is to go directly to the company website. You’ll be able to view open positions and apply online. Click on “Careers” or “Jobs” to get started.