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The differences between customer service assistants and associate 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 customer service assistant and an associate customer service representative. Additionally, an associate customer service representative has an average salary of $35,215, which is higher than the $33,862 average annual salary of a customer service assistant.
The top three skills for a customer service assistant include front end, customer service and service calls. The most important skills for an associate customer service representative are patients, outbound calls, and customer inquiries.
| Customer Service Assistant | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $33,862 | $35,215 |
| Hourly rate | $16.28 | $16.93 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 220,286 | 199,751 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A Customer Service Assistant is responsible for providing customer support by responding to inquiries and correspondence or transferring them to a particular department when necessary. The duties of a Customer Service Assistant will vary according to an assigned setting. However, it mostly revolves around answering calls, providing troubleshooting options, helping a customer navigate systems or applications, and filling out details. Furthermore, there are instances when a Customer Service Assistant must fulfill orders, process payments or refunds, and even sell services or products. All efforts are focused on attaining customer satisfaction.
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.
Customer service assistants and associate customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Assistant | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $33,862 | $35,215 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $42,000 | Between $26,000 And $46,000 |
| Highest paying City | Helena, MT | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Montana | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Fidelity Investments | Deutsche Bank |
| Best paying industry | Government | Finance |
There are a few differences between a customer service assistant and an associate customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Assistant | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer service assistants' and associate customer service representatives' demographics:
| Customer Service Assistant | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 29.7% Female, 70.3% | Male, 35.1% Female, 64.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 22.8% Asian, 6.5% White, 52.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 21.0% Asian, 6.4% White, 54.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |