Are you a call center specialist looking for a new job? Then you’re in the market for a new call center resume, too.
Whether you’re looking to revamp your existing resume or craft a new one from scratch, this article is for you. It offers detailed guidelines, as well as expert tips and tricks that will make your resume shine brighter than a customer’s smile after a successful call.
Let’s dive in to see how you can create a resume that will have hiring managers eager to pick up the phone and offer you the job of your dreams.
Key Takeaways
Most candidates have the best chances with a one-page resume written in the chronological format.
Bulleted lists will help you demonstrate your past work experience briefly but in great detail.
You don’t need a formal degree to work as a call center agent, but listing one gives you more credibility.
Show that you’re a dedicated worker by writing and submitting a personalized and tailored cover letter.
What is the Right Format to Use for a Call Center Resume?
You can spend hours perfecting your call center resume only for recruiters to skim through it in less than 10 seconds. They usually look for specific bits of information in specific places on your resume, which is why you need a proven resume format, such as one of the following:
The chronological resume format, which is used by the majority of candidates. It showcases your professional and academic development in reverse-chronological order, putting your latest endeavors first.
The functional resume format, which makes the most of your skill set. This makes it perfect for industry newcomers who lack professional history.
The combination resume format, which combines chronological and functional formats to make your skills the main section while backing up each of your abilities with relevant professional accomplishments. You should only use this format if you have years of experience.
Resume Layout
Even the most impactful information about your skills and experience won't help if your resume is messy and hard to read. That’s why you want a good layout that will properly visually present all the details about you. Here are some tips to help you with that:
Instead of writing bulky paragraphs, use bulleted lists.
Choose a legible and resume-friendly font like Arial or Calibri.
Go with the 10–12 pt font size for regular text and the 14–16 pt font size for section headings.
Put margins of at least one inch on all sides, and make sure there’s enough space between different sections.
What Sections Should a Call Center Resume Contain?
Mandatory Sections
Before we start dealing with specifics, let’s outline which sections you should include in your call center resume. The mandatory ones are:
Contact information
Resume objective/summary
Work history
Education
Skills
Optional Sections
Then, you can spice things up with optional sections, such as:
Awards and certifications
Languages
Hobbies and interests
Now that you have the foundation to build on, we can examine what each of these sections should look like. But before we do that, it’s worth mentioning that there’s a way to speed up the whole resume-writing process while simultaneously making sure you don’t forget to include anything important.
You can use our resume builder to create a submission-ready document in a fraction of the time it would take you to do it on your own. With user-friendly commands and blanks to fill in with your information, our tool guarantees both speed and accuracy!
Call Center Resume Contact Information
Your contact information should go at the top of your resume—in the resume header—and feature your name, job title, phone number, and email address at the very least. On top of that, you can include your city and state (only if you’re applying for a position abroad) and your LinkedIn profile.
Here’s an example of what a contact information section should look like on a call center resume:
Call Center Representative
Dorothy Wyatt
Call Center Representative
+ 240 368 0911
dorotyhwyatt@example.com
Belleville, NJ
linkedin.com/in/dorothywyatt33
Make sure that there are no typing mistakes, or recruiters won’t be able to contact you. Also, keep it professional, which means no witty email addresses or funny job titles.
Call Center Resume Objective or Summary
Remember how we mentioned recruiters often skim through resumes in mere seconds? One of the best ways to grab their attention in such a short time frame is with a brief and catchy call center resume objective or summary.
Think of these short paragraphs as descriptions for your call center resume. They should appear at the beginning of the document, highlighting your key strengths. A resume objective focuses on skills and professional goals and is best used by entry-level candidates.
On the other hand, a resume summary should mention workplace accomplishments and is used by experienced individuals.
Call Center Resume Objective
The goal of a resume objective is to emphasize your potential by showing the skills relevant to the position that you’re applying for. You can also leverage previous experiences that would translate well to the job of a call center agent.
Here’s an example:
Good Example
“Sociable call center agent seeking to leverage interpersonal and communication skills to join [your company]. Provided excellent customer service working as a McDonald’s cashier, obtaining a 95% customer satisfaction rating. Recognized as an employee of the month three times in a row and commended for exceptional work ethic and strong problem-solving skills.”
Compare that to the following lackluster resume objective that gives nothing of substance to recruiters:
Bad Example
“Entry-level call service agent with no experience looking for a new job. Fast learner and a friendly person.”
Call Center Resume Summary
If you’re an experienced specialist, you want to persuade recruiters to take a deeper look at your resume. To do that, you should write a call center resume summary that features your most impressive achievements.
Let’s see that in an example:
Good Example
“Results-driven call center agent with 7+ years of experience. Proven track record of providing exceptional customer service and exceeding performance targets. Consistently achieved an average customer satisfaction rating of 95% throughout career, which is 10% higher than the company’s target. Personally trained and mentored 30+ new hires and got recognized for leadership skills.”
However, if you don’t give recruiters any palpable achievements, you’ll leave them guessing whether you’re as experienced as you say. Here’s how not to write a summary:
Bad Example
“Competent call center agent looking for a new job. Looking to bring my skills and years of experience to help your organization.”
Call Center Resume Work Experience
In most cases, recruiters and potential employers will spend the majority of their time examining your work history, which is why you want to make this section perfect.
General Tips
The best thing that you can do for your work experience section is to focus on results and achievements over everyday tasks. Most call center agents handled a certain number of calls per day, but only a few did that so successfully that they received a 90% satisfaction rating.
Before we give you tips on how to properly demonstrate your accomplishments, here’s what a work experience section should look like:
Job title
Company name and location
Start and end dates of your employment
Notable achievements and results obtained
Now, to make those results and achievements truly pop, consider the following guidelines:
You should use bullet lists to convey a lot of information concisely. The optimal number is between 3 and 5 bullet points for each previous job added to your work experience section.
Precise numbers and percentages quantify your achievements, making them factual and believable.
You can make this section more memorable by replacing commonly used terms like “improved” and “supported” with action verbs and power words such as “overhauled” and “advised.”
Call Center Representative With No Experience
Even if you’re creating a call center resume with no experience, you can still write an impactful work experience section. You can focus on related activities such as internships, volunteer work, freelancing, or even other jobs that revolve around customer service.
Let’s see an example:
Cashier
Work Experience
Cashier
That Pizza Place
St. Louis, MO
June 2021–April 2022
Handled customer orders accurately and efficiently, achieving an average order processing time of 2 minutes.
Upsold promotional items to customers, increasing daily sales by up to 15%.
Obtained a 93% customer satisfaction rating by focusing on exceptional service.
Experienced Call Center Representative
If you have relevant experience, you want to highlight it properly. Pick only the most impressive achievements that will show your potential employers how they can benefit from your abilities.
Here’s a good example:
Customer Service Agent
Work Experience
Customer Service Agent
Through The Hoop Sports Store
Aurora, CO
May 2020–Current
Handled an average of 80 inbound customer daily calls with a 90% satisfaction rating.
Consistently exceeded monthly sales goals by up to 15% by utilizing upselling and cross-selling techniques.
Collaborated with a technical team to resolve complex customer issues efficiently, resulting in a 45% decrease in escalated calls.
Call Center Resume Education Section
It’s no secret that you can get a fantastic job as a call center representative without a degree. Still, adding one to your resume goes a long way toward portraying you as a competent individual. Similarly to how you should configure your work experience section, your education section should feature the following details:
Your degree
The school you went to
Dates
(Optional) Notable achievements such as a high GPA, extracurricular activities, courses, etc.
Here’s a simple but effective example:
Education Section Example
Education
High School Diploma
Stuyvesant High School, New York, NY
2015–2019
Certain positions might require an associate’s or bachelor’s degree (e.g., in businesses that specialize in finance). In that case, you shouldonly list your highest degree (which means no high school diploma). You could even list your unfinished degree by putting “current” instead of a graduation date or marking it as “expected.”
Call Center Resume Skills
Continuously working with other people as a call center specialist means that you have a broad and diverse skill set. However, every job is different, which is why you want to highlight those skills that are most relevant to the specific position that you’re applying for.
So, how do you find out the best skills for your call center resume?
The answer is simple: by doing research. Look into the company that you’re applying to and thoroughly read the job ad. This way, you’ll likely find out which soft and hard skills they are looking for. After that, it’ll be easy to list them in the skills section of your resume.
But your job isn’t done yet.
You can (and should) prove that you actually have those abilities by mentioning them next to relevant accomplishments. Use your resume summary or objective and your work experience section to mention some of your vital skills and demonstrate achievements that came as a result of your prowess.
Hard Skills
Here are some job-specific hard skills that you can include in your resume:
Talkdesk
MS Office
Salesforce
Product knowledge
Phone etiquette
Call center operations
Soft Skills
More often than not, recruiters will thoroughly examine your soft skills, too. There are many of them that you can add to your call center resume, including:
Communication
Attention to detail
Organization
Stress management
Persuasion
Patience
Call Center Resume Optional Sections
After adding all the mandatory parts to your call center resume, optional ones can help you include more valuable information and stand out among the competition.
Awards & Certifications
If you have notable awards or important certifications that could help add credibility to your skills and competence, you should make room on your resume to showcase them.
Certifications Examples
For example, you could mention your employee of the month award or list certifications such as:
Certified Customer Service Professional (CCSP)
Certified Call Center Specialist (CCCS)
Customer Service and Sales Certification (CSSC)
Languages
Knowledge of foreign languages is always a welcome skill on a resume. It can even be mandatory if the job ad asks for a specific language. You can add this section to your resume by starting with the language you’re most proficient in and listing the rest in descending order.
Hobbies & Interests
This section might be more important than you think. It can make you more prominent in the eyes of recruiters by showing that you’re an engaging person with passion and interests. After all, who wouldn’t want an exciting and fun colleague to work with?
Should You Submit a Cover Letter With Your Call Center Resume?
A simple act of putting in effort and writing a position-specific cover letter will show recruiters that you’re a dedicated and hardworking individual. Moreover, you can use 3–5 paragraphs of this document to talk more about your skills and achievements, establish a more personal connection with recruiters, and invite them to contact you for further discussion.
Expert Tips for Creating a Call Center Resume
Now that the guide is almost complete, let’s put the cherry on top by adding a few extra tips that will help you get the most out of your call center resume:
You should submit your call center resume in PDF format unless specified otherwise. This will preserve its shape on any device.
Make sure that your skills and experience match the specific position that you’re applying for.
Your cover letter shouldn’t be a repeat of what’s stated in your resume. Use this document to convey additional information to recruiters.
Unless you have decades of relevant experience, your resume should be one page long.
Closing Thoughts
A well-crafted resume can make all the difference in landing your dream job. This document is your calling card, so make sure it’s dialed in and ready to impress.
Just like you always aim for a first-call resolution, aim for a first-glance impression that is memorable and stands out. Pay attention to details, inject a bit of personality into your call center resume, and it won’t be long before you are taking calls alongside other talented call center agents!
