How to hire a contact agent

How to hire a contact agent, step by step

Here's a step-by-step contact agent hiring guide:

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

What does a contact agent do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The contact agent hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   A contact agent's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, contact agents from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of contact agent salaries for various roles:

   Type of Contact Agent	Description	Hourly rate
   Contact Agent	Customer service representatives interact with customers to handle complaints, process orders, and provide information about an organization’s products and services.	$10-17
   Bilingual Customer Service	In bilingual customer service, a representative specializes in responding to calls using English or another foreign language that the customer prefers. Among their primary responsibilities include assisting customers and addressing any inquiries, concerns, or issues that they may raise... Show more	$12-18
   Service Representative	Service representatives handle customer inquiries, requests, complaints, and other general feedback. They are usually the first point of contact with the company's customers... Show more	$11-21

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Phone Calls
   • Patients
   • Inbound Calls
   • Escalate
   • Outbound Calls
   • Data Entry
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • CRM
   • Customer Calls
   • Customer Care
   • Customer Inquiries
   • Credit Card
   • Schedule Appointments

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage Facebook and patient communication programs.
   • Accept incoming calls and promote DIRECTV to prospects.
   • Provide assistance to businesses whose Comcast service are currently down.
   • Maintain patient confidentiality and abide by HIPPA laws at all times.
   • Troubleshoot directv equipment and solve the issue in a one call resolution.
   • Perform tasks to help Comcast customers fix their Internet, phone, television and email

   More contact agent duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your contact agent job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A contact agent salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a contact agent in Kentucky may be lower than in Rhode Island, and an entry-level contact agent usually earns less than a senior-level contact agent. Additionally, a contact agent with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average contact agent salary

   $13.61hourly

   $28,301 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level contact agent salary

   $21,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 23, 2026

   Average contact agent salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Wisconsin	$32,148	$15
   2	New York	$31,759	$15
   3	Minnesota	$31,481	$15
   4	California	$30,839	$15
   5	Oregon	$30,832	$15
   6	New Jersey	$29,433	$14
   7	Washington	$28,881	$14
   8	Pennsylvania	$28,444	$14
   9	Colorado	$28,123	$14
   10	Massachusetts	$28,103	$14
   11	Iowa	$27,051	$13
   12	Indiana	$26,367	$13
   13	Florida	$25,762	$12
   14	Texas	$25,195	$12
   15	North Carolina	$25,150	$12
   16	Utah	$25,144	$12
   17	Idaho	$23,862	$11
   18	Virginia	$23,538	$11
   19	Missouri	$22,894	$11
   20	Georgia	$21,177	$10

   Average contact agent salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Idaho Central Credit Union	$40,231	$19.34
   2	Epiq	$35,130	$16.89	26
   3	PSECU	$34,450	$16.56	6
   4	America First Credit Union	$34,403	$16.54	8
   5	NTUA	$33,916	$16.31	2
   6	First Horizon Bank	$32,423	$15.59	25
   7	Crawford & Company	$32,148	$15.46	3
   8	Collins Community CU	$31,994	$15.38	2
   9	DATCU	$31,933	$15.35	1
   10	First City Credit Union	$31,396	$15.09	2
   11	Cigna	$31,274	$15.04	8
   12	OSF HealthCare	$30,922	$14.87	3
   13	Planned Parenthood	$30,888	$14.85	2
   14	RadNet	$30,651	$14.74	1
   15	True Sky Credit Union	$30,523	$14.67
   16	German American	$30,090	$14.47	20
   17	HealthTrust	$29,905	$14.38
   18	Carrington Mortgage Services, Mortgage Lending Division	$29,788	$14.32	26
   19	Pharmaceutical Product Development	$29,724	$14.29
   20	IKEA North America Services, LLC	$29,485	$14.18	11

4. Writing a contact agent job description

   A job description for a contact agent role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a contact agent job description:

   Contact agent job description example

   Assist customers with a wide variety of services. Advise as to how to best utilize company products and services in order to meet personal financial goals, and provide the highest quality customer service.
   
   Identify products/services that might be beneficial to members. Provide them with information over the phone about the products/services, and how they would provide value to the member and encourage them to upgrade their relationship with the company (cross-telling/selling).
   
   Perform teller functions for members (i.e. transfer funds between accounts and/or loan, stop payments, close and reorder debit cards, provide balances and last five transactions, reissue and reset PINs, process loan or credit card payments, etc.) to assure member’s needs are addressed in a polite and friendly manner.
   
   Cross-sell Virtual Branch and bill pay services and assist customers in setting up Virtual Branch enrollment and understanding the e-statement process.
   
   Answer incoming calls and determine the needs of the caller and verify the caller’s identity, then determine if you can provide direct assistance (i.e. teller services) of that you will connect the caller with the appropriate resource to address their need, minimizing the caller’s time and effort in resolving their concern.
   
   Monitor and process loan payoff information and provide this communication to dealerships and insurance companies in an accurate and timely manner.
   
   Assist other departments and branches with transactions as needed, provide support for the collections department and branch managers in fulfilling customer requests and merchant verifications.
   Qualifications and Skills Up to six months of similar or related experience including time spent in preparatory positions. High school degree or GED required. Courtesy, tact, and diplomacy are essential elements of the job. Work involves personal contact with others inside and/or outside the organization, generally regarding routine matters for purposes of giving and obtaining information, as well as advising or referring, which commonly require shorter discussions. Position Grade 6. Minimum Starting Wage $16.00 Powered by JazzHR RpFMmfeav9

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right contact agent 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 contact agent job on Zippia to find and recruit contact agent candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit contact agents, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   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 contact agent

   Once you've selected the best contact agent 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.

   To prepare for the new contact agent first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

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 contact agent?