A Compelling Call Center Resume Example

If you ever worked in a call center, you know how demanding this job can be. You have to successfully deal with frustrated customers and ensure that they leave with a positive impression of the company. In many cases, you’ll be expected to remember complex policies and procedures. At every turn, you’re asked to maintain exceptional levels of professionalism and empathy. 

Call center work isn’t for everyone. You should have well-developed interpersonal skills if you want to move up the ranks in the customer service niche. So how do you demonstrate these in your resume? Keep reading for actionable resume writing tips. Next, take some time to read our call center resume sample.

Show That You Can Handle Unhappy Customers in Various Situations

One of your key duties will be turning those distressed customers into satisfied ones. So you should give this type of ability a prominent place on your resume. But what if you don’t have any customer experience? Fret not! You can always compensate for this by sharing examples from other industries.

Let’s say you have worked in retail. Chances are you have dealt with every variety of customers ranging from legitimately frustrated to deliberately difficult ones at the sales floor. Show how you have used your customer service abilities to navigate these situations and ensure your customers were happy. You can browse resume examples for some more inspiration.

Write a Summary That Shows You Can Step Into The Call Center Right Away

Rather than writing a resume objective that simply states what you want to achieve at this position, write a customized professional summary.

A summary addresses your skills and qualifications and allows you to describe how you will add value from the moment you are hired. Here’s an example:

‘I am an experienced call center representative with more than 5 years supporting and selling software products in the telecommunications industry. My skills include providing accurate and empathetic support to even the most frustrated customers, selling warranties and product upgrades, and understanding when calls should be escalated. I am capable of learning call center procedures quickly and implementing my training with no need for direct supervision.’

Match Your Resume Structure and Format to The Employer

As a call center employee, you might work for any variety of companies in different industries and with varying corporate cultures. That’s why you should carefully select the look and feel of your resume so that it represents exactly what your potential employer is seeking.

For example, are you applying at a conservative firm that sells B2B financial products? In that case, you might consider using professional resume templates. If you are applying to a startup selling design software, a more lax, creative template might be your best choice.

Emphasize the Most In-Demand Skills

Do some “background checks” on the company to understand what skills, attitudes and personal qualities matter to them the most. Usually, you can find all that information within the job listing itself, plus at the company’s Mission/Career/Culture website pages.

The list of skills is going to vary to some extent. However, there are a few skills that are widely valued among call center employees. These include:

• Having great communication skills.
• Being multilingual.
• Experience with popular help desk software (e.g. Zendesk).
• Capable of memorizing technical procedures.
• Possessing the ability to be diplomatic with difficult people.
• Having a track record of closing calls quickly.

If you decide to use a functional resume format, you can highlight these in the skills section of your resume. Also, you should strategically incorporate them into the work experience section of your resume and build a narrative around them.

For example, you might state that you worked exclusively with the customer accounts that had been deemed particularly demanding or otherwise difficult to deal with. Then, you can illustrate how you were able to keep these customers happy.

Resume Sample for a Call Center Position (Word version)

Call Center Resume Example (text version)

Final Tip: Emphasize Flexibility

Call centers largely have shift work. Companies need to provide 24/7 coverage, especially if they serve customers on a global scale. If you are willing to work various shifts or weekends, be sure to include that on your resume.