How To Write A Customer Service CV

There are lots of different ways to make your customer service CV stand out. In this guide, we’ll run through our dos and don’ts and share an example to give you some inspiration.

It’s tough to think of a business that doesn’t have a customer service role in some capacity! Even if they don’t have a customer service department, they’ll always be at least one person with responsibility for handling queries and resolving any issues.

At the time of writing there are well over 25,000 customer service jobs listed on the UK government’s Find A Job service and on LinkedIn, there are three times as many!

Let’s begin by looking at some of the basics for your customer service CV.

Dos and don’ts

Has it been some time since you last wrote a CV? For a full overview and some general guidance, here’s how to write a CV – our comprehensive guide.

When it comes to writing a CV for customer service, or any job for that matter, keep your target audience in mind. Think about what recruiters and hiring managers want to see.

Do:

• Write a strong personal statement: Outline who you are, what you can bring to the table and your career ambitions – spend lots of time getting this part right. Otherwise, the reader may not continue (when writing your CV, consider leaving this part until the end, once you’ve worked out your greatest strengths).
• Highlight your achievements: Describe your customer service career experiences so far in detail. Whether it was a full-time role or volunteer work, don’t sell yourself short.
• Include your education and qualifications, plus your key hard and soft skills: Tailor them to the job description because some of your skills will be more relevant for the role than others.
• Keep the layout and formatting simple and effective, so it’s easy to read and find the key information.
• Strike a professional tone.

Don’t:

• Add personal details such as your marital status or age.
• Put your photo on a CV unless you’re applying for a role outside the UK, if so, check the local requirements, as some countries’ hiring managers will expect one.
• Include references, yet – later in the application process, provide them if asked.
• Mention salary expectations on your CV.
• Lie on a CV – it’s never acceptable.

Also, avoid the temptation to use clichés or generalisations on your CV. In the next section, we’ll explain a better way to describe your achievements.

Customer service skills

The job posts you’re responding to with your CV and application will usually mention several hard and soft skills, which the employer sees as either required or desired.

One way to show employers which of these you have is to add a skills section to your CV. Alternatively, you can work your skillset into your personal statement and career experience sections more naturally, as long as they still stand out.

For example, a customer service job description could require the following:

• Leading sales initiatives
• Meeting sales targets
• Good verbal and written English grammar
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Confident and proactive at handling customer escalations
• Problem solving
• Time management
• Fast data entry
• Detail-oriented
• Experience with social media
• Familiar with Microsoft Office

Now let’s take a look at how to back up your strongest skills with some proof points.

It’s not always easy to find facts for a CV to show your success in prior customer service roles – it may depend on previous employers’ use of software – but try hard to get some.

Look for any records there are on criteria such as sales targets met or surpassed, customer feedback scores, sales attributed to you and so on.

Include any relevant and impressive figures you can to demonstrate your impact in customer service.

This evidence will have more impact in context. Use the STAR method to explain your best ones. 

And if you need a few sentences to do it, your cover letter is a good place to do this – this is how to write a retail assistant cover letter.

Based on everything so far, here’s a CV example to help you get you started.

Customer service CV example

Nate Weah

[Address] – [Phone number] – [Email address]

Personal Statement

Use several lines to say who you are, what you can do and what your career aims are. Say why you stand out and what your unique selling points are! Here’s a sample first sentence:

Luxury retail customer service professional with 5 years of experience working in high-end boutiques and a perfect record of meeting annual sales targets.

Key Skills

If your skill section looks strong, include it here – if not, put it after your work history section. Match your skillset to the job description and use bullet points, for example:

• Luxury retail experience
• Proactive selling
• Complaint resolution
• Business development
• Fluent in Spanish

Work History

List previous roles or the companies you’ve worked at in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent or current position — also include the dates. 

Then add bullet points, to describe your most relevant responsibilities or achievements, e.g.:

[Role, company] [Dates]

• Exceeded most recent annual sales target by 10%
• Responsible for selling to customers and resolving any complaint escalations
• Managed one line report and successfully made their case for promotion

Qualifications and Education

Start by including any relevant qualifications, then give your education details: 

• [Relevant qualification(s) obtained] [Dates]
• [University name, degree subject, grade] [Dates]
• [School name, A-Levels, grades] [Dates]
• [School name, GCSEs, grades] [Dates]

Interests

If you’re short of space on your CV, this section isn’t essential. Any interests you include should ideally strengthen your application in a relevant way, if possible.

References available on request

Final thoughts: How to write a customer service CV

Don’t undo all that hard work on your CV by making a basic mistake.

Re-read it, check it, then check it again to find any mistakes and fix them. Ask a friend or family member to review your CV too in case they spot anything you don’t. 

Watch out for these – 10 mistakes that make your CV look unprofessional.

Remember, highlight any unique skills you have and what makes you a great candidate, then build your CV around these points.

Also, try to craft a perfect CV headline to grab the attention of a time-poor hiring manager!

If you need some help with any of the above, we’re CV writing experts. With vast experience, we certainly know how to write a top-notch customer service CV, so please don’t hesitate to contact us with any queries.