How to hire a call center associate

How to hire a call center associate, step by step

Here's a step-by-step call center associate hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a call center associate job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new call center associate
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a call center associate do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the call center associate you need to hire. Certain call center associate roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a call center associate to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a call center associate that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of call center associate salaries for various roles:

   Type of Call Center Associate	Description	Hourly rate
   Call Center Associate	Customer service representatives interact with customers to handle complaints, process orders, and provide information about an organization’s products and services.	$10-20
   Customer Service Representative	Customer service representatives are the first point of contact of the customers, acting as the frontiers of the company and help in driving customer loyalty and retention by leaving a great impression and resolving all of their concerns. They accommodate customer queries by providing useful and comprehensive information about any products or services... Show more	$12-19
   Customer Service Expert	A customer service expert is responsible for providing excellent customer by responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns regarding the goods and services the company offers. Customer service experts also handle and escalate high-level complaints, processing order replacements, and issuing refunds as needed... Show more	$27-83

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Inbound Calls
   • Customer Service
   • Strong Customer Service
   • Data Entry
   • Outbound Calls
   • PET
   • Phone Calls
   • Telephone Inquiries
   • Computer System
   • Telephone Calls
   • Customer Support
   • Troubleshoot Problems
   • Customer Complaints

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Register patient callers by gathering clinical information relate to patients concerns.
   • Demonstrate superb organizational and multitasking abilities
   • Unload FTL and LTL shipments daily and receive items throughout the warehouse.
   • Assign carriers to LTL shipments before cutoff times and handle customer inquiries.
   • Process and confirm pending DIRECTV customers account information, while providing exceptional customer service.

   More call center associate duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your call center associate job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A call center associate salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, call center associates' average salary in new mexico is 41% less than in new york.
   • Seniority. Entry-level call center associates earn 49% less than senior-level call center associates.
   • Certifications. A call center associate with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a call center associate's salary.

   Average call center associate salary

   $15.08hourly

   $31,363 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level call center associate salary

   $22,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 23, 2026

   Average call center associate salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$43,738	$21
   2	Minnesota	$39,419	$19
   3	Rhode Island	$38,905	$19
   4	North Carolina	$36,916	$18
   5	Michigan	$36,755	$18
   6	Montana	$36,500	$18
   7	California	$36,209	$17
   8	New Jersey	$36,190	$17
   9	New Hampshire	$36,128	$17
   10	Maryland	$36,066	$17
   11	Wisconsin	$35,948	$17
   12	Hawaii	$34,315	$17
   13	Connecticut	$33,844	$16
   14	Colorado	$32,109	$15
   15	Arizona	$31,926	$15
   16	Ohio	$31,346	$15
   17	Texas	$30,305	$15
   18	Iowa	$29,936	$14
   19	Tennessee	$29,784	$14
   20	Florida	$29,262	$14

   Average call center associate salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Spectrum	$46,007	$22.12
   2	University of California-Berkeley	$43,910	$21.11
   3	QuintilesIMS	$41,394	$19.90	112
   4	IEEE Foundation	$37,980	$18.26	2
   5	New York State Restaurant Association	$37,602	$18.08
   6	Prime Healthcare	$37,354	$17.96	6
   7	Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital	$37,276	$17.92
   8	The Wild Center	$36,709	$17.65
   9	Precision Opinion	$36,621	$17.61	4
   10	BNY Mellon	$36,194	$17.40	79
   11	Scala	$35,488	$17.06
   12	EmblemHealth	$34,784	$16.72	14
   13	Chewy	$34,423	$16.55
   14	Highmark	$34,253	$16.47	95
   15	CoreLogic	$33,561	$16.14	2
   16	T-Mobile	$33,240	$15.98	3
   17	Planned Parenthood	$33,067	$15.90	24
   18	Tractor Supply	$33,018	$15.87	23
   19	Sysco	$32,956	$15.84	59
   20	Wells Fargo	$32,954	$15.84	56

4. Writing a call center associate job description

   A call center associate job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a call center associate job description:

   Call center associate job description example

   Are you looking to align with a wildly growing company with growth opportunities? Are you a student of the sales process…or want to be? We are looking motivated individuals to join our growing inside sales team.
   
   MooveGuru works directly with Real Estate Brokers and Agents to provide their clients assistance with establishing home services and utilities, all in a warm call. Previous inside sales experience, familiarity with CRM systems and best practices are a plus.
   
   Strong communication and active listening skills as well as customer focus and adaptability to different personality types are a must.
   
   Please be able to to multitask, set priorities and manage time effectively and pass a background check.
   Responsibilities:
   * Manage outbound, inbound and follow-up calls in an efficient manner
   * Identify customers’ needs and research available services
   * Provide solutions while keeping customer satisfaction at the core of every step
   * Meet personal/team qualitative and quantitative targets MooveGuru is a 4-year-old start-up.
   
   Fun, nimble, looking for talent. We have proven this platform for 7 years building it for other companies, now it is UNLEASHED. We offer an innovative marketing program to the Real Estate industry and the Utility industry. We have immediate openings for motivated sales Guru’s to join our team due to incredible growth! We provide training and ongoing support to enhance and foster personal and professional growth. We have a unique Corporate Culture, kick ***, have fun or go work somewhere else! The environment is very open and everyone has a voice and is encouraged to share ideas, suggest improvements and be involved in development of the company. We recognize that the salespeople are the key to the overall success of the company! MooveGuru is taking the Real Estate industry and online marketing and flipping it on its head and making everyone take notice. Do you want to be a part of a team that can define the future of the company? Do you want everyone around you to succeed, because as they succeed so do you?
   
   Come join our team. Want to learn more Check us out at www.mooveguru.com

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right call center associate for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your call center associate job on Zippia to find and recruit call center associate candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting call center associates requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new call center associate

   Once you've selected the best call center associate candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new call center associate. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a call center associate?