What education is needed to be a customer service representative

Job Description: Interact with customers to provide basic or scripted information in response to routine inquiries about products and services. May handle and resolve general complaints. Excludes individuals whose duties are primarily installation, sales, repair, and technical support.

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Provide information or advice about products and services to customers.

What's it like to be a Customer Service Representative?

Customer Service Representatives interact with customers to give information or advice about a company’s products or services, handle requests and process orders.

Tasks and duties

  • Answering inbound calls from customers.
  • Making outbound calls to customers.
  • Looking up information to help resolve customer queries.
  • Logging tickets for jobs and escalating matters that can’t be resolved at the Customer Service Representative level.
  • Entering data into Customer Relationship Management software.
  • Meeting Key Performance Indicator targets, such as time on phone and time in queue.
  • Responding to customer emails.
  • Chatting to customers through an online chat portal.
  • Processing orders, invoices and payments.

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Customer Service Representatives are required to have strong communication skills and are considered the “front line” of the company they work for, as they are most likely to be the first person a customer interacts with.

Fast learners, eager problem-solvers, savvy with technology and courteous at all times, Customer Service Representatives can make or break a customers’ impression of the company they are interacting with.

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How to become a Customer Service Representative


There’s no minimum qualification to become a Customer Service Representative, but it may be an advantage to have completed Year 10 or have relevant work experience.


  1. Develop your skills with administration software, such as MS Office, and your written and oral communication skills. You might also consider completing a Certificate III in Customer Engagement (BSB30215) or a Certificate IV in Customer Engagement (BSB40315) through TAFE or a Registered Training Organisation.
  2. If you’re looking to pursue a career in sales, administration or business, consider completing further study, such as a Bachelor of Business at university.

SEEK users who have worked as a Customer Service Representative have studied these qualifications.

Skills and experience employers are looking for

Hi there, have any of these? Add your skills directly to your SEEK Profile.

Customer Service

Contact Centre Services

Computer Literacy

Phone Etiquette

Multitasking

Microsoft Office

Data Entry

Resilience

Adaptability

Communication Skills


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Job market trends for Customer Service Representatives

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Latest Customer Service Representative reviews

Latest reviews from 146 Customer Service Representatives surveyed on SEEK

You know what they say- everyone should work in Customer Service for at least a year...

Reviewer's Qualification

Bachelor of Media and Communication

Organisation size

Medium (20-199 employees)

Specialisation

Media Post Productions

The good things

You know what they say- everybody should work in a Customer Service role for a year... Good things: -Feeling of achievement and helping others; -Less stress (depending on the organisation’s cultur...

The challenges

-Dealing with people could be hard, when they are unreasonable and mean. Doing this on a daily basis might strain you if you’re not resilient and are affected by others easily; -It could be repetitive...

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The general public are a force to be recognised and find connections build bridges everyday. Believe in what you do if you can’t then keep looking until you do

Reviewer's Qualification

Certificate IV in Workplace Trainer

Experience

Less than a year

Organisation size

Small (1-19 employees)

The good things

I love seeing the public everyday and helping them either directly or with advise on how to get help.

The challenges

Not everyone can be treated the same you cannot know what is in their mind so you must be able to read people and listen. Then engage accordingly, knowing you cannot always please everybody.

Read more

Source: SEEK Role Reviews

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What are the requirements to be a customer service representative?

Customer service representatives need a high school education, on-the-job training and several soft skills. Customer service representatives generally need a high school diploma or a GED. High school education provides customer service professionals with the basic communication and interpersonal skills they need to work in this field.

What percentage of customer service representatives have a high school degree?

The most common degree for Customer Service Representatives is High School Diploma 33% of Customer Service Representatives earn that degree. A close second is Bachelor's Degree with 31% and rounding it off is Associate Degree with 21%.

What high school courses are needed for a job in customer service?

High school courses in computers, English, or business are helpful in preparing for a job in customer service.

What skills do you need for a job in customer service?

Additionally, for those workers who communicate through e-mail, good typing, spelling, and written communication skills are necessary. High school courses in computers, English, or business are helpful in preparing for a job in customer service.

What do you need to be a customer service representative?

Customer service representatives typically need a high school diploma or equivalent to enter the occupation and receive on-the-job training to learn the specific skills needed for the job. They should be good at communicating and interacting with people.

What are the three most important qualifications of customer service?

Essentially, the 3 important qualities of customer service center around three “p”s: professionalism, patience, and a “people-first” attitude. Although customer service varies from customer to customer, as long as you're following these guidelines, you're on the right track.

How hard is it being a customer service representative?

Some jobs are inherently more stressful than others and customer service jobs fall into the “very stressful” category. Customer service agents are often under extreme time pressures, have to deal with complex problems, and often rude customers.