Looking to land more job offers in Customer Service?

You're going to need a great resume. This comprehensive guide provides proven strategies, skills, templates, and examples for writing a job-winning Customer Service resume based on data from coaching thousands of successful job seekers.

From top to bottom, this guide will equip you with the tools you need to write an outstanding Customer Service resume and increase your chances of landing the job of your dreams.

Here's what we're going to cover:

• What To Know About Writing A Job-Winning Customer Service Resume
• The Best Skills To Include On An Customer Service Resume
• How To Write A Job-Winning Customer Service Resume Summary
• How To Write Offer-Winning Customer Service Resume Bullets
• 3 Customer Service Resume Examples
• The 8 Best Customer Service Resume Templates

Here's the step-by-step breakdown:

Customer Service Resume Overview: What To Know To Write A Resume That Wins More Job Offers

Wondering what companies are looking for when they're hiring someone for their Customer Service team?

Excellent communication and problem-solving skills are at the top of the list, but employers are also looking for things like empathy and positive attitude. Being able to work well under pressure, adaptability and technical proficiency are also important. Employers are looking for candidates who pay attention to detail, have excellent time management skills and are dedicated to ensuring customers have a top-notch experience.

Your resume should show the company that your personality and your experience encompass all of these things.

Additionally, there are a few best practices you want to follow to write a job-winning Customer Service resume:

1. Tailor your resume to the job: Make sure to read the job description carefully and tailor your resume to the specific requirements of the role (we'll show you how in the next section!).
2. Highlight your customer service skills: Emphasize your customer service skills, such as problem-solving, active listening, and conflict resolution, and give specific examples of how you have used these skills in your previous roles.
3. Include relevant experience: Focus on your customer service experience and include specific details about your responsibilities and accomplishments.
4. Use keywords: Make sure to use keywords relevant to the customer service role, such as “customer support,” “communication skills,” and “problem-solving” (more on keywords in a second)
5. Keep it concise: Keep your resume concise and to the point, using bullet points to highlight your achievements and experience.
6. Proofread: Carefully proofread your resume for errors and typos, as these can give a negative impression to potential employers.

Let's dive deeper into each of these so you have the exact blueprint you need to see success.

The Best Customer Service Skills To Include On Your Resume

Keywords are one of the most important factors in your resume. They show employers that your skills align with the role and they also help format your resume for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

If you're not familiar with ATS systems, they are pieces of software used by employers to manage job applications. They scan resumes for keywords and qualifications and make it easier for the employers to filter and search for candidates whose qualifications match the role.

If you want to win more interviews and job offers, you need to have a keyword-optimized resume. There are two ways to find the right keywords:

1. Leverage The 20 Best Customer Service Keywords

The first is to leverage our list of the best keywords and skills for an Customer Service resume.

These keywords were selected from an analysis of real Customer Service job descriptions sourced from actual job boards. Here they are:

• Customer Service
• Communication
• Sales
• Flexibility
• Management
• Training
• Data
• IT
• Organization
• Vision
• Proactive
• Motivated
• Leadership
• Commitment
• Friendly
• Team Member
• Customer Service
• Microsoft Office
• Follow Up
• Excel

2. Use ResyMatch.io To Find The Best Keywords That Are Specific To Your Resume And Target Role

The second method is the one I recommend because it's personalized to your specific resume and target job.

This process lets you find the exact keywords that your resume is missing when compared to the individual role you're applying for.Here's how it works:

1. Open a copy of your updated resume
2. Open a copy of your target job description
3. Head over to ResyMatch.io
4. Copy and paste your resume on the left and then do the same for the job description on the right
5. Hit scan and review the results

ResyMatch is going to scan your resume and compare it to the target job description. It's going to show you the exact keywords and skills you're missing as well as share other feedback you can use to improve your resume.

Here's a video walking through this whole process:

How To Write A Job-Winning Customer Service Resume Summary

You have a very short window of time to capture an employer's attention–an average of six seconds, to be exact.

To land more interviews an offers, you have to make each one of those seconds count. Start by putting the exact information the reader is looking for at the very top of your resume.

A quick Google search will tell you that a Summary or an Objective should hold this top spot but, unfortunately, that traditional advice simply won't capture your reader's attention. Winning in today's job market means using a more modern approach, what I like to call a “Highlight Reel.”

Here's how it works:

Highlight Reels: A Proven Way To Start Your Resume And Win More Jobs

The Highlight Reel is exactly what it sounds like.

It's a section at the top of your resume that allows you to pick and choose the best and most relevant experience to feature right at the top of your resume.

It's essentially a highlight reel of your career as it relates to this specific role! I like to think about it as the SportsCenter Top 10 of your resume.

The Highlight Reel resume summary consists of 4 parts:

1. A relevant section title that ties your experience to the role
2. An introductory bullet that summarizes your experience and high level value
3. A few supporting “Case Study” bullets that illustrate specific results, projects, and relevant experience
4. A closing “Extracurricular” bullet to round out your candidacy

For example, if we were writing a Highlight Reel for an Customer Service role, it might look like this:You can see how the first bullet includes the Customer Service job title, the years of experience this candidate has, and it wraps up with a value-driven pitch for how they've helped companies in the past.

The next two bullets are “Case Studies” of specific results they drove at their company. Finally, their last bullet focuses on a volunteering stretch project that led to some amazing results.

This candidate has provided all of the info any employer would want to see right at the very top of their resume! The best part is, they can customize this section for each and every role they apply for to maximize the relevance of their experience.

Here's one more example of a Customer Service Highlight Reel:

While the content in this example is a bit more light, you can see all of the elements of a great Highlight Reel (especially the emphasis on measurable outcomes and results!).

If you want more details on writing a killer Highlight Reel, check out my full guide on Highlight Reels here.

How To Write Offer-Winning Customer Service Resume Bullets

Bullets make up the majority of the content in your resume. If you want to win, you need to know how to write bullets that are compelling and value-driven.

Unfortunately, way too many job seekers aren't good at this. They use fluffy, buzzword-fill language and they only talk about the actions that they took rather than the results and outcomes those actions created.

To help solve this, our team dove into bullets from the best resumes that have come across our desk. We used that data to create a formula for a great resume bullet. Here it is:

If you apply this framework to each of the bullets on your resume, you're going to make them more compelling and your value is going to be crystal clear to the reader. For example, take a look at these resume bullets:

❌ Responsible for increasing client satisfaction rates. 

✅ Improved customer satisfaction rates by 15% in 6 months through proactive communication and timely issue resolution, boosting retention and revenue. 

The second bullet makes the candidate's value so much more clear, and it's a lot more fun to read! That's what we're going for here.

That said, it's one thing to look at the graphic above and try to apply the abstract concept of “35% hard skills” to your bullet. We wanted to make things easy, so we created a tool called ResyBullet.io that will actually give your resume bullet a score and show you how to improve it.

Using ResyBullet To Write Crazy Effective, Job-Winning Resume Bullets

ResyBullet takes our proprietary “resume bullet formula” and layers it into a tool that's super simple to use. Here's how it works:

1. Head over to ResyBullet.io
2. Copy a bullet from your resume and paste it into the tool, then hit “Analyze”
3. ResyBullet will score your resume bullet and show you exactly what you need to improve
4. You edit your bullet with the recommended changes and scan it again
5. Rinse and repeat until you get a score of 60+
6. Move on to the next bullet in your resume

Let's take a look at how this works for the two resume bullet examples I shared above:

First, we had, “Responsible for increasing customer satisfaction rates.” 

ResyBullet gave that a score of 0/100.  Not only is it too short, but it's missing relevant skills, compelling language, and measurable outcomes:

Now, let's take a look at our second bullet, “Improved customer satisfaction by 15% tin 6 months through proactive communication and timely issue resolution, boosting retention and revenue.” 

ResyBullet gave that a 73 / 100. Much better! This bullet had more content focused on the specific criteria the hiring team is looking for. We can see by exactly how much they increased customer satisfaction, the skill and method they applied, and that it all resulted in an overall increase in customer retention and company revenue.

Now all you have to do is run each of your bullets through ResyBullet, make the suggested updates, and your resume is going to be jam packed with eye-popping, value-driven content!

And if you want to learn more about the underlying strategies behind writing great resume bullets, check out this guide.

3 Customer Service Resume Examples For 2023

Now let's take a look at all of these best practices in action. Here are three resume examples for different situations from people with different backgrounds:

Customer Service Resume Example #1: A Traditional Background

Customer Service Resume Example #2: A Non-Traditional Background

For our second Customer Service Resume Example, we have a candidate who has a non-traditional background. In this case, they are coming from the wellness industry but have experience working directly with customers.  Here's an example of what their resume might look like when applying for Customer Service roles:

Customer Service Resume Example #3: Senior Customer Service With Masters Degree

For our third Customer Service Resume Example, we have a candidate who has 5+ years of experience and a Masters degree. Here's an example of what their resume might look like when applying for Customer Service roles:

The 8 Best Customer Service Resume Templates

At this point, you know all of the basics you'll need to write an Customer Service resume that wins you more interviews and offers. The only thing left is to take all of that information and apply it to a template that's going to help you get results.

We made that easy with our ResyBuild tool. It has 8 proven templates that were created with the help of recruiters and hiring managers at the world's best companies. These templates also bake in thousands of data points we have from the job seekers in our audience who have used them to land job offers.

Just click any of the templates below to start building your resume using proven, recruiter-approved templates:

Key Takeaways To Wrap Up Your Job-Winning Customer Service Resume

You made it! We packed a lot of information into this post so I wanted to distill the key points for you and lay out next steps so you know exactly where to from here.

Here are the 5 steps for writing a job-winning Customer Service resume:

1. Start with a proven resume template from ResyBuild.io
2. Use ResyMatch.io to find the right keywords and optimize your resume for each role you apply to
3. Start your resume with a Highlight Reel to immediately grab your target employer's attention
4. Use ResyBullet.io to craft compelling, value-driven bullets that pop off the page
5. Compare the draft of your resume to the examples on this page to make sure you're on the right path
6. Use a tool like HemingwayApp to proofread your resume before you submit it

If you follow those steps, you're going to be well on your way to landing more Customer Service interviews and job offers.