What is a customer support representative and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted expert

Sally Hiott B.S. MBA, DBA

A customer support representative provides assistance and guidance to customers who have issues or questions about a company's products or services. They help customers resolve their problems by answering inquiries, providing solutions, and offering support via phone, email, chat, or social media. A customer support representative needs excellent communication skills and the ability to multitask. They should have knowledge of the company's products and services and an understanding of the policies and procedures.

What general advice would you give to a customer support representative?

Sally Hiott B.S. MBA, DBA

Assistant Professor of Marketing, Charleston Southern University

Show employers how you would not only fill an open position regarding the work at hand, but show them how you would be an asset to their team. We are in very team driven work environments currently, and hiring managers want to know what you can bring to the table. Filling a void is great for the workload, but enhancing a team culture makes them not want to work without you!

ScoreCustomer Support RepresentativeUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $37,404

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.9

Growth rate -4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.76%

Asian 7.27%

Black or African American 10.90%

Hispanic or Latino 20.13%

Unknown 5.50%

White 55.43%

Gender

female 53.02%

male 46.98%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

5.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.6

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.5

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a customer support representative?

Pros

Possibility for career advancement within the company
Chance to work remotely or have flexible schedules
Can be a stepping stone to other careers in the company
Usually no experience required to start in entry-level positions
Can be a good source of income with benefits

Cons

Repetitive nature of the job can lead to burnout
Workload can be overwhelming during peak seasons or high call volume days
Working in shifts, including nights, weekends, and holidays
Can be challenging to stay positive when dealing with negative feedback from customers
Low pay for entry-level positions, making it difficult to make ends meet in some areas.

Key steps to become a customer support representative

Explore customer support representative education requirements

Most common customer support representative degrees

Bachelor's

50.2 %

Associate

23.8 %

High School Diploma

15.1 %

Start to develop specific customer support representative skills

Skills	Percentages
Technical Support	10.17%
Windows	7.92%
Customer Inquiries	6.05%
Data Entry	5.54%
Customer Support	4.04%

Complete relevant customer support representative training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New customer support representatives learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a customer support representative based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real customer support representative resumes.

Research customer support representative duties and responsibilities

Manage customer relationships using company CRM system, deliver post sales training on system, and offer additional assistance as needed.
Manage software maintenance renewal partner and assist with upselling additional and higher functionality licenses to increase revenue.
Coordinate and escalate efforts with adjacent operations and engineering groups to offer end-to-end solutions for customers with complex technical issues.
Track and measure all activity demonstrating the impact of CRR involvement.

Prepare your customer support representative resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your customer support representative resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a customer support representative resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable customer support representative resume templates

Build a professional customer support representative resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your customer support representative resume.

Apply for customer support representative jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a customer support representative job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

Average customer support representative salary

The average customer support representative salary in the United States is $37,404 per year or $18 per hour. Customer support representative salaries range between $29,000 and $47,000 per year.

Average customer support representative salary

$37,404 Yearly

$17.98 hourly

How do customer support representatives rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Customer support representative reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2024

Pros

remote job, more schedule flexibility

Cons

very low salary, no career growth, very stressful and not rewarding

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2022

Pros

I got to do a variety of tasks daily. Got treated with respect from management and other coworkers.

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2020

Pros

Caring to the customer issues is what I do like first and the other thing it is a job that show determination level on the duty.

What is a customer support representative and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a customer support representative?

What are the pros and cons of being a customer support representative?

Customer support representative career paths

Key steps to become a customer support representative

Explore customer support representative education requirements

Most common customer support representative degrees

Start to develop specific customer support representative skills

Complete relevant customer support representative training and internships

Research customer support representative duties and responsibilities

Prepare your customer support representative resume

Choose from 10+ customizable customer support representative resume templates

Apply for customer support representative jobs

How did you land your first customer support representative job

Average customer support representative salary

How do customer support representatives rate their job?

Customer support representative reviews

Customer support representative jobs by state