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What does a call center associate do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does a call center associate do

Call center associates are professionals who are responsible for taking inbound and outbound customer calls and handle responsibilities that include account inquiries, customer complaints, or product and support issues. These associates are required to provide quality assistance and customer service so that they can receive positive reviews from their customers. They must assist customers with technical support issues, which include updating product documentation and training materials. Call center associates must also accurately identify their customers' needs and objectives so that they can achieve the organization's sales goals.

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Call center associate responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real call center associate resumes:

  • 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.

Call center associate skills and personality traits

We calculated that 17% of Call Center Associates are proficient in Patients, Inbound Calls, and Customer Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Computer skills, and Customer-service skills.

We break down the percentage of Call Center Associates that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patients, 17%

    Register patient callers by gathering clinical information related to patients concerns.

  • Inbound Calls, 13%

    Handle inbound calls professionally and efficiently; perfected troubleshooting techniques and problem solving strategies; achieved promotional advancement within months.

  • Customer Service, 12%

    Provide timely and accurate customer service through routine telephone inquiries and written correspondence in a Heavy Call Volume environment.

  • Strong Customer Service, 9%

    Surpassed Increasing Monthly Sales Targets * Symbolized Strong Customer Service Philosophy as Traveling Store Representative * Answering phone/handling transactions/setting and running appointments

  • Data Entry, 7%

    Computed data entry of customer information in a precise and timely manner

  • Outbound Calls, 5%

    Make outbound calls to tow yards and repair facilities for vehicle releases.

Most call center associates use their skills in "patients," "inbound calls," and "customer service" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential call center associate responsibilities here:

Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for a call center associate to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what call center associates do because "customer service representatives must be able to provide clear information in writing, by phone, or in person." Additionally, a call center associate resume shows how call center associates use communication skills: "answer and resolve customer complaints via telephone and the internet compose apology letters and mail out compensation to customers data entry communication"

Customer-service skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of call center associates is customer-service skills. This skill is critical to many everyday call center associate duties, as "representatives help companies retain customers by professionally answering questions and helping to resolve complaints." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "responded to customer billing, payment arrangement, troubleshooting, and account queries in high volume service center location. "

Interpersonal skills. A big part of what call center associates do relies on "interpersonal skills." You can see how essential it is to call center associate responsibilities because "representatives should be able to create positive interactions with customers." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical call center associate tasks: "displayed courtesy and strong interpersonal skills with all customer interactions. "

Listening skills. A commonly-found skill in call center associate job descriptions, "listening skills" is essential to what call center associates do. Call center associate responsibilities rely on this skill because "representatives must listen carefully to ensure that they understand customers in order to assist them." You can also see how call center associate duties rely on listening skills in this resume example: "communicated with clients through postal mail, e-mails, and phone calls. "

Patience. Lastly, "patience" is an important element of what a call center associate does. Call center associate responsibilities require this skill because "representatives should be patient and polite, especially when interacting with dissatisfied customers." This resume example highlights how call center associate duties rely on this skill: "provide assistance to special needs patients with exceptional patience. "

Most common call center associate skills

The three companies that hire the most call center associates are:

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Compare different call center associates

Call center associate vs. Associate customer service representative

An associate customer service representative is responsible for providing high customer service by assisting customers on their inquiries and concerns, as well as resolving and escalating high-level complaints to the supervisor or tenured customer service representative. Associate customer service representatives also process orders and payments from the customers, replacing defective items, and issuing refunds as needed. They must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially on handling data processing procedures to the database for reference to customer concerns.

The annual salary of associate customer service representatives is $3,852 higher than the average salary of call center associates.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both call center associate and associate customer service representative positions are skilled in patients, inbound calls, and customer service.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, call center associate responsibilities require skills like "strong customer service," "data entry," "pet," and "phone calls." Meanwhile a typical associate customer service representative has skills in areas such as "sales floor," "product knowledge," "customer care," and "pos." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Associate customer service representatives tend to make the most money working in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $37,473. In contrast, call center associates make the biggest average salary, $32,632, in the finance industry.On average, associate customer service representatives reach similar levels of education than call center associates. Associate customer service representatives are 0.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Call center associate vs. 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. Some would use that as an opportunity to market and promote more sales. The most challenging issues they use to handle are customer complaints and processing of refunds and returns. They also assist in basic troubleshooting or accounts and payment setup with the use of specific guidelines or step by step procedures. At most, they help and solve customer issues on their own, but sometimes they would need support from supervisors or other departments.

Customer service representative positions earn higher pay than call center associate roles. They earn a $897 higher salary than call center associates per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Call center associates and customer service representatives both require similar skills like "patients," "customer service," and "strong customer service" to carry out their responsibilities.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, call center associate responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "inbound calls," "phone calls," "production standards," and "troubleshoot problems." Meanwhile, a customer service representative has duties that require skills in areas such as "cleanliness," "pos," "sales floor," and "home health." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

On average, customer service representatives earn a higher salary than call center associates. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, customer service representatives earn the most pay in the insurance industry with an average salary of $34,074. Whereas call center associates have higher pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $32,632.In general, customer service representatives achieve similar levels of education than call center associates. They're 1.4% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Call center associate vs. 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. They check customer accounts, resolve billing issues, and monitor product delivery details. A customer service expert must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially the knowledge of sales techniques, to sell services that would increase the company's revenues and profitability.

On average, customer service experts earn higher salaries than call center associates, with a $68,594 difference per year.call center associates and customer service experts both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "patients," "inbound calls," and "customer service," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from call center associate resumes include skills like "strong customer service," "data entry," "pet," and "phone calls," whereas a customer service expert is more likely to list skills in "cleanliness," "reservations," "powerpoint," and "product knowledge. "

Most customer service experts achieve a similar degree level compared to call center associates. For example, they're 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Call center associate vs. Customer service consultant

A customer service consultant is responsible for addressing the customers' inquiries and concerns regarding the company's services and resolving complaints to provide the best customer service and satisfaction. Customer service consultants also sell new goods and products to the customers, demonstrating features and benefits before proceeding with the orders, payment, and delivery details. They develop excellent sales pitches to attract customer to purchase items which would generate more revenue resources and profits for the business.

Customer service consultants average a higher salary than the annual salary of call center associates. The difference is about $6,108 per year.While both call center associates and customer service consultants complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like inbound calls, customer service, and strong customer service, the two careers vary in some skills.Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A call center associate uses "patients," "data entry," "pet," and "phone calls." Customer service consultants are more likely to have duties that require skills in "strong problem-solving," "troubleshoot," "technical problems," and "windows. "In general, customer service consultants earn the most working in the technology industry, with an average salary of $42,679. The highest-paying industry for a call center associate is the finance industry.The average resume of customer service consultants showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to call center associates. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 0.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.0%.

Types of call center associate

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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