A customer services manager is the head of the customer service team.
They undertake different roles in the customer service and support departments. Some key responsibilities associated with the position include;
- Oversee the customer service department
- Formulate customer service standards in a company
- Train and mentor customer service agents
- Identify strategies and practices that improve customer experience in the company
- Assess staff performance within the department
- Handle and resolve major complaints, more so from customers with intensified complaints
- Ensure professionalism is observed within the organization
It’s hard to find a job with many qualified candidates on the market. So, if you’re looking for a customer service manager position, you need a remarkable resume that showcases your skills, experience, education, and other qualifications. The resume is meant to market you as the most competent and befitting applicant for the role.
To increase your chances of securing the customer service manager position, you’ll need to know the steps for writing an effective resume. So, what makes a good resume? And how can you make your own? This article will discuss how to write all the sections of a solid resume when applying for a management role in customer service.
pro tip
As of May 2020, the average annual salary of a customer service manager was $35,830 – with the bottom 10% earning $11.59/hour and the top 10% earning $27.80/hour. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 2,923,400 customer service manager positions. This number is on the decline by a -1% growth rate. This rate is projected to reduce the number of these positions by -34,500 from 2020 to 2030, resulting in 2,888 900 positions by the end of that period.
Free Templates
Formatting Instructions for the Resume
A resume is a formal document. Therefore, formatting is very critical. It ought to be prepared as a professional document to highlight your professionalism while communicating your suitability for the position.
Here are some formatting guidelines to adopt when crafting your resume:
Choose a suitable format
To begin with, you need to select the format that will market you best based on your experience and qualifications and the job requirements.
Below are the three resume formats you should consider:
- Reverse-chronological resume format: Such a resume format is suitable for job applicants with ample experience in customer service. This is because the format is geared towards the experience more than any other qualification. It is the commonly used and recognized resume format.
- Functional resume format: A functional format focuses on the job applicant’s skills and competencies that are relevant to the position. It is thus suited for applicants with little to no experience in customer service – for example, entry-level applicants. However, most recruiters do not favor this format as they prefer the reverse-chronological format.
- Hybrid-combination resume format: This format of resume writing combines the vital attributes of the functional and chronological resume format. As a result, it can suit both experienced and entry-level job applicants. Ideally, it outlines contents in two columns – one for experience and the other for skills and noteworthy accolades.
Layout and style
Below are formatting guidelines you can use to ensure the resume displays a high level of professionalism.
- The font size should be 12 points to ensure it is legible.
- Use 1” margins on all sides.
- Keep the resume a page long if you have less than ten years of experience. Applicants with more experience can use two pages.
- Save the resume as a PDF and send it in the same format.
- Avoid using icons and images as they confuse the ATS, which lowers your chances of success. Instead, use bullet points as it is ATS-friendly and easy to read.
Each customer service manager’s resume ought to have specific essential components. These include a header, objective statement/professional summary, experience, skills, and education sections.
Below is a guide that will look into;
- When and how to write an objective statement or professional summary
- How to structure the experience (job history) section
- Skills you can include in the resume
- What to include in the education section
- Additional sections of a job-winning resume
The resume should begin with a header. A header provides identification details that introduce you to the recruiter. Therefore, it should be placed at the top of the resume.
- Write your name in full, including your surname. Use a large font for the name.
- Indicate the job position you’re applying for – customer service manager, as a subheading to your name. Alternatively, write your current job title.
- A link to your online portfolio or profile, f
EXAMPLE
LinkedIn.
- Write down your official email address.
- Provide your mailing address. Include the street address, city, and state.
- Passport-size photo (recommended for EU applications but not recommended for US applications)
EXAMPLE
Mercy Meyers
Customer service manager
Mercmeyer28@email.com | LinkedIn/MeyerMercy | Los Angeles, California
TIP
The header section should comply with the applicable personal identifying information guidelines of the respective company, state, or country. For example, there may be guidelines regarding inserting photos in your resume.
How to Write a Summary/Objective Statement Section?
The following section is the professional summary or objective statement depending on the situation. This section is meant to provide the reader with a summary of your capabilities for the job. A summary is designed to highlight your experience in the industry and identify essential skills and noteworthy achievements that you can leverage to succeed at the job.
Suppose you are an entry-level applicant with little or no experience or changing your career. In that case, you must use an objective statement as it highlights your qualifications, skills, and interest in the position and the subsequent career. Moreover, this section should be 2-3 sentences long.
The checklist of this section is given below:
Summary checklist
- Your experience in years
- Three highly significant skills and experiences
- A noteworthy achievement/accomplishment or career highlight that interlinks with the skills given
- A maximum of three sentences. Use short and precise sentences as they keep the recruiter interested in your resume
EXAMPLE
Professional Summary
8 years of industry experience coordinating with key employees to ensure high-quality customer experience in retail. Grew the previous company’s approval ratings by 60% in 3 years. Trained and mentored over 50 recruits to become experts in customer service.
Objective statement checklist
- Provide the reason for applying for the job
- Mention why you’re a suitable candidate
- Incorporate some of your skills that relate to the customer service manager role. The skills do not have to emanate from experience in customer service
- Personalize the objective statement to be specific to the job. Avoid generic statements.
- The objective should be unique to you.
EXAMPLE
Objective Statement
Result-driven graduate aiming to pursue a career in customer service management. An active listener, proficient in CRM, and possessing team leadership skills vital to customer service. In addition, my social and conflict resolution skills are essential in handling customer and department issues.
TIP
Always review the job description, note what the employer is looking for, and align the summary or objective statement to their expectations.
How to Write Experience Section of Customer Service Manager Resume
The resume’s experience section is where you narrate your work history. It is meant to give the recruiter an overview of your past working experience. This section should focus on your accomplishments in each position instead of your daily responsibilities. Also, utilize power words such as – saved money, bargained, profit, lucrative, reduced, budget, etc., and back claims with numbers. Numbers are essential in substantiating claims.
Checklist of experience section
- Include job experience from as far back as ten years unless you’re applying for an executive job position
- Illustrate your responsibilities using achievements and support the claims with concrete numbers in each previous role, for example, sales targets, revenue generated, etc.
- Give 4-6 bullet points per job position. Avoid paragraphs to ensure the experience is easy to read.
- Begin each bullet point with an action word/power word and avoid overused buzzwords
- For each bullet point, use C-A-R (context/challenge-action-result) or S-T-A-R (situation-task-action-result) method when outlining your experience.
EXAMPLE
Work Experience
Customer care team supervisor
Bigson & Co.
Bridget Avenue, Los Angeles, CA (2005–2006)
–Coordinated a 10+ customer service team to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction
–Supervised the customer service team to ensure every customer was satisfactorily served as they reported complaints and sought solutions.
–Participated in the hiring process and trained over 100 new employees in 5 years.
–Increased positive customer feedback by 40%
–Reduced the customer support response time from 5 business days to 48 hours
TIP
Consult the job description, identify commonalities between the employer’s values and your experience, and magnify them in the experience section of your resume.
How to Write an Education Section of Resume?
The education section is used to indicate your educational qualifications. Go through the job description and identify the qualifications the employer has prioritized and provide the associated academic qualifications. You can also include information about other high school qualifications, such as a diploma or certificate earned if they are relevant to the customer service manager role.
Checklist of education section
- Indicate the type of degree or major
- Mention the name of the academic institution and location
- State the graduation date
- Indicate the GPA (optional) unless the employer requests
- List only relevant qualifications
EXAMPLE
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science in Marketing degree (with Honors)
Framingham State College – 2006
Framingham, MA
How to Write Skills Section?
The skills section of your resume highlights your knowledge, abilities, and work experience. These include soft and hard skill sets. You should mention the essential skills in a customer service manager position. Use bullet points and incorporate keywords to make your resume ATS-friendly.
Examples of skills to consider in this section include:
Hard skills
- CRM (HubSpot)
- Microsoft Office Suite
- HelpDesk
- Social media account management (Instagram, Twitter)
- Customer service metrics (conversion rate, retention, NPS)
- Data analysis
- Zendesk
- Jira service desk
- Data analysis
- Zoom
Soft skills
- Detail oriented
- Outbound calling
- Google Suite
- Leadership
- Highly organized
- Employee satisfaction
- Empathetic
- Multi-tasking
- Active listening
- Negotiation
- Time management
- Collaboration
- Problem-solving
- Customer retention
- Courteous
- Spanish and English
- Written and verbal communication
Checklist of skills section
- Ensure the hard skills and abilities
EXAMPLE
Technologies, are aligned with the job description.
- Let your skills appear in other sections of the customer service manager resume
EXAMPLE
The experience section or summary/objective.
- Support your skills by illustrating how you’ve utilized them in the workplace in the past.
EXAMPLE
Incorporating your skills into the achievements.
- Always include skills in your resume. They play a significant role in developing an Applicant Tracking System-friendly resume.
EXAMPLE
SKILLS
Time management
Prepared weekly schedules for 25 employees that resulted in timely task completion
Leadership
Trained and mentored over 100+ employees and interns over 4 years.
Customer retention
Utilized telecommunication such as ZOOM and Skype to address complaints from clients remotely.
Include Other Sections
Any sections relevant to your job position can be mentioned in the resume depending on the situation.
EXAMPLE
If the information is helpful to the type of company (start-up or established), standard practices of the region, or seniority of the position.
Additional applicable sections you can include in your resume are:
- Hobbies and interests section
- Volunteer work (if applicable)
- Hobbies and interests (if applicable)
- References (if requested)
- Languages
- Projects (if relevant)
- Resume awards
- Publications
EXAMPLE
HOBBIES AND INTERESTS
-Skiing
-Hiking
-Nature enthusiast
-Kayaking
Tips to Write Job-Winning Resume
Employers always look for top talents to fill customer service manager positions. Here are some tips that can help you present yourself as the most suitable candidate to potential employers:
Emphasize accomplishments over tasks
Focus on your contributions in the workplace more than your duties, especially in the experience section. Use action words to describe skills or experiences such as leveraged, increased, coordinated, delivered, managed, contributed, etc., to show what you achieved in the different roles.
Pay attention to keywords
Your resume should be able to emphasize keywords that are in the job description and shared in the industry and profession.
EXAMPLE
If the job description says “data analyst,” you must include the term and associated skills in the resume.
This is because most recruiters will use an automated applicant tracking system to review and rank resumes based on how the resumes meet the employer’s requirements.
Therefore, incorporating the terms and phrases the ATS will search for increases the chances of your resume getting a favorable ranking.
Showcase your attention to details
Understand the job requirements. Prepare before writing your resume. First, gather enough information about the company and the position you’re applying for. Then, follow the applicable instructions regarding the submission method, formatting guidelines, and chronology preferences. This will help you get your priorities right and choose what to include on your resume. It also shows you have a genuine interest and helps avoid preliminary elimination.
Polish your resume to perfection
Ensure your resume is error-free by proofreading it and having a third-party review it. You should then edit any identified errors. An error-free resume exudes professionalism and attention to detail which are desirable qualities in a managerial role.
Use metrics
Use metrics to quantify your accomplishments and track improvement. Examples of metrics include customer satisfaction (CSAT) score, resolution rate, customer/employee numbers, employee retention rate, net promoter score, etc. Quantifying your contributions better represents your capabilities and makes your resume more attractive to hiring managers.
Customize your resume for the job
Tailor your resume to highlight your strengths, skills, and the aspects of your personality that match the position. This can be done in the objective or summary, skills and experience sections. This will increase your chances of an interview invitation.
Avoid white lies
Don’t embellish your resume. Don’t lie or exaggerate your qualifications. This can backfire and reflect poorly on you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Since teamwork is a highly sought after quality in any manager, you should aim to demonstrate this in various sections of the resume. Mention this quality in the summary/objective, show how this is the case in the experience section, and list it as a skill.
While the format is not very important, it does have an impact on the reader. Therefore, if it is a priority to the recruiter, they will include the preferred file format as a requirement in the job description. So always review the job description thoroughly. However, if the file format is not specified, any formats – PDF, MS Word, or Txt are acceptable.
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