Customer Service Skills for a Resume with Examples, Tips, and Guide

Simply stating that you are good at “customer service” on your resume isn’t really saying much. What kind of customers do you serve? What kind of service do you provide? This guide gets to the heart of the matter to help you effectively showcase your customer service skills resume in a way that impresses recruiters and hiring managers.

Why Customer Service Skills Matter on a Resume

Customer service is an important universal skill across industries and roles. It shows that you have the potential to serve as a company’s face and bring its product or service to its customers.

The importance of customer service skills in various industries

While we think of customer service as a generic term, it can play out differently depending on the industry you’re working in. Here are a few examples:

• Retail: Your job is to assist customers to help them find the best products for their needs.
• Hospitality: You serve guests by making them feel that they have everything they need for an enjoyable experience.
• Tech support: Your role in this sector is to break down complex concepts and educate consumers on how to use and maximize their technology products.
• Health care: Helping to improve patient outcomes, having a good bedside manner, and assisting with the complexities of the healthcare system are just a few ways customer service is performed in this industry.

How strong customer service skills benefit employers

Every time a person offers customer service on behalf of an organization, it reflects on that brand – in a good way or a bad way.

When customer service is strong, it can improve customer satisfaction, cultivate loyalty, and help shape the brand’s reputation. As such, employers want to hire candidates who have a strong track record of working well with customers.

What employers look for in customer service candidates

Whether a company is hiring for a customer-facing or customer-adjacent role, being able to illustrate certain customer service traits and competencies can make you stand out as a candidate. These are the top customer service skills hiring managers are looking for:

• A people person: Do you have the ability to make connections, be conversant, and make customers feel heard and welcomed?
• A good communicator: Can you speak to a diverse population of customers in a way they can understand?
• Someone who aims to please: Are you willing to go above and beyond to solve a customer problem?
• Belief in the product or brand: Can you serve as a brand ambassador and articulate what the products or services have to offer?

What Are Customer Service Skills?

Customer service is an umbrella term that could include helping shoppers find products in a retail store, onboarding new software users, or reaching out to current customers to help them use a product more efficiently.

Definition of customer service skills

Customer service skills are the group of skills needed to address the needs of customers and provide them with a positive experience.

Hard skills vs. soft skills in customer service

Hard customer service skills include:

• Product knowledge
• CRM software proficiency

Soft customer skills include:

• Communication
• Empathy
• Problem-solving

Top Customer Service Skills to Include on Your Resume

Breaking down all of your key customer service skills is far more effective than just listing “customer service.” Here are some ideas for how to list customer service skills on resume:

Communication skills

Verbal and written communication and active listening are important skills for serving customers. On a resume, here’s an example of how to demonstrate these skills:

Problem-solving skills

If you use specific techniques for handling customer complaints and issues, give examples on your resume, as well as the outcomes. For example:

Patience and empathy

Making a customer feel heard by letting them voice concerns and presenting solutions is a key component of customer service. On a resume, here’s what that could look like:

Adaptability and flexibility

Dealing with difficult customers and unexpected situations is a necessary part of most jobs. An example of adaptability might be:

Technical proficiency

Experience with CRM systems, helpdesk software, and other tools means you’ll be able to jump right into some roles. Showcasing your technical customer service skills might look like the following:

Teamwork and collaboration

Working effectively with other team members is a sort of cliché addition for a resume, but you can get more granular by offering examples of teamwork in a customer service environment:

How to identify your customer service skills

Many people develop and recognize their customer service skills even if they’ve never had a “customer service” role.

• Use self-assessment techniques: Reflect on past experiences and customer interactions.
• Seek feedback from others: Use performance reviews, customer feedback, and peer input to see what other people see in you.
• Leverage training and certifications: There are some aspects of customer service that can be taught so take advantage of any on-the-job training offered, or seek out training on your own.

How to Include Customer Service Skills on Your Resume

While there is a “skills” section in your resume, evidence of your customer service abilities can appear throughout the document.

Incorporating skills in the resume summary or objective

Craft a compelling resume profile section or summary that highlights key customer service skills.

Example:

Highlighting skills in the work experience section

Use the STAR method to showcase customer service achievements. STAR means:

• Situation: Share a scenario.
• Task: State your role.
• Action: Describe the steps you took.
• Result: Share the outcomes.

On your resume, here’s how it might look:

Creating a dedicated skills section

A skills section is important, but for a customer service role, you can create a subsection of customer service abilities.

Customer service skills examples:

Examples of Customer Service Skills for Different Roles

Skills for entry-level customer service positions

When you’re first starting out in a customer service role, look to any retail or hospitality experience you’ve had as there are a few key transferable skills that can make you successful. If you have no experience, you can also look to volunteer, internship, or school activities you’ve participated in.

These include having a positive attitude, being a good communicator, displaying professionalism, and learning when to direct customers to other team members for help.

Skills for advanced or specialized customer service roles

For higher-level customer service roles, recruiters will be looking for more developed skill sets. For example, in tech support roles, you should have knowledge and experience using ticketing systems. For account management roles, familiarity with a CRM is important. Product knowledge can also be good to mention if you’re helping customers choose the best model.

Skills for remote customer service jobs

If you’re seeking a position that is remote, employers will want to know that you are self-motivated and have a comfort level with digital communication such as video conferencing and live chat or messaging apps.

Tips for Developing Customer Service Skills

On-the-job experience

Customer service skills are best developed through real-world interactions. Working with the public in a high-traffic retail store or fielding a high volume of customer service inquiries by phone, for example, can expose you to a lot of different situations.

Training programs and workshops

If you are hoping to advance in a customer service-focused career, you can consider taking training courses on your own. For example, you could pursue the HubSpot Service Hub Certification.

Continuous improvement and feedback

Asking for feedback from your customers, colleagues and managers can help you continuously refine your skills. If you have the opportunity to read customer feedback surveys, take advantage of those.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Listing Customer Service Skills

When crafting your resume, the goal is to be specific, show don’t tell, and stay on point. That’s why you should avoid these mistakes:

• Being too vague or generic: Instead of saying you “assist patients,” try elaborating such as “assisted elderly and non-English speaking patients with digital health forms.”
• Not providing evidence for your skills: Share examples and results rather than listing a duty or responsibility. “Helped customers locate products” can become “Helped improve sales by 15% in six months by introducing customers to new products.”
• Listing irrelevant skills: Keep your resume succinct by only including the most important items that relate to the roles you’re seeking.

Checklist for Showcasing Customer Service Skills on Your Resume

In order to stand out from other job seekers, run through this checklist every time you send off your resume:

• Tailor it for each job: Look closely at the job description and customize your resume to match the employer’s needs. You can even incorporate some of the keywords and phrases.
• Proofread and review: Ensure that your resume is free of errors and easy to read. Have a trusted friend or colleague look it over for you.
• Leveraging cover letters and interviews: Reinforce the customer service skills on your resume in your cover letters and interviews. Share anecdotes of your skills in action, how you handled a challenge, and the ways in which you’ve improved throughout your career.

Additional Resources

Resume writing guides and templates

• How To List Skills in Your Resume Skills Section (and List of Key Skills for Resume)
• Customer Service Representative Resume Examples and Templates for 2024
• Best Resume Formats

Customer service training programs and certifications

• Service Strategies – Customer Service Training and Certification
• Management and Strategy Institute (MSI) – Call Center Associate Certified (CCAC)™
• Accredited Certification Institute (ACI) – Customer Service Manager Certification 

Career advice for customer service professionals

• 10 Customer Service Skills and How to Develop Them
• Occupational Outlook Handbook: Customer Service Representatives
• Here’s why you should choose customer service as a career path

Andrew Stoner

Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach

Andrew Stoner is an executive career coach and resume writer with 17 years of experience as a hiring manager and operations leader at two Fortune 500 Financial Services companies, and as the career services director at two major university business schools.