What is the career path for customer service?

The career path for customer service involves jobs as a customer service representative, customer service manager, and customer success manager. There are many career paths within the umbrella of customer service. Many require the same skills and professional experience, while some have similar requirements in terms of education.

Here is a closer look at the customer service career path:

• Education

Some customer service roles do not have strict education requirements outside of a high school diploma or equivalent. Many entry-level customer service positions can be obtained without a college education, including:

• Customer service representative

• Sales associate

• Call center customer service representative

While it is possible to advance on one of the many customer service career paths from an entry-level role, those looking to advance more quickly and obtain higher-level roles with more significant salaries might benefit from obtaining a college degree. Here are some different levels of degrees that might benefit those planning to work in customer service:

• Associate's degree

• Bachelor's degree

• Master's degree

In terms of appropriate majors, there are many that help to develop the right skills and knowledge to start and excel in a customer service career. Depending on what type of industry a candidate wants to work in, they might want to choose any of the following majors:

• Communications

• Psychology

• Computer science

• Business administration

• Human resources

Those wanting to make ground on the technical customer service career paths, such as with roles like customer service engineer, should focus on a more technical major like computer science, or at least take electives that are relevant to this area.

• Different career paths within customer service

There are many different career paths within customer service. Here are some common ones to consider:

• Customer service representative

• Customer service engineer

• Customer service manager

• Customer success manager

• Implementation specialist

• Customer success team lead

There are many ways to grow your career in customer service, here are some options:

• Set the goal of becoming a people manager and leading a team of customer service representatives

• Receive specialized education and training concerning a specific product to become a technical customer service professional

• Become a helpful content writer for a company to inform its consumer base

• Work in the customer service operations department of a company to collaborate with other leaders from various departments

• Climbing the ladder all the way to a company's chief customer officer (CCO)

• Sales

Working in customer service provides a great foundation of knowledge, skills, and experience to transition into sales.

• Marketing

Many companies have a customer-centric marketing team, you can use your effective customer service communication skills to go far in an advertising and marketing career.

• Product

Another path you can consider as a good transition from customer service is the product path. Customer service experience within a company can help to inform you of vital aspects of its products.