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The differences between call workers and customer service representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a call worker and a customer service representative. Additionally, a customer service representative has an average salary of $32,260, which is higher than the $29,166 average annual salary of a call worker.
The top three skills for a call worker include customer service, alumni and customer orders. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.
| Call Worker | Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $29,166 | $32,260 |
| Hourly rate | $14.02 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 194,135 | 209,515 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A call worker usually works at call centers where they are primarily in charge of answering or making calls, ensuring optimal support and other services to clients. When it comes to answering inbound calls, they are responsible for responding to inquiries, arranging services, troubleshooting problems, providing solutions or instructions, handling complaints professionally, and solving concerns and issues efficiently. Moreover, they may also generate leads and reach out to potential clients, aiming to secure sales by offering products and services, discussing product specifications, and arranging payment plans.
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.
Call workers and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Call Worker | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $29,166 | $32,260 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $36,000 | Between $25,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | Des Moines, WA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | UC Santa Barbara | Oracle |
| Best paying industry | Non Profits | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a call worker and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Call Worker | Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between call workers' and customer service representatives' demographics:
| Call Worker | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 46.0% Female, 54.0% | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 4.8% White, 61.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.2% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |