How to hire a customer support specialist

How to hire a customer support specialist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step customer support specialist hiring guide:

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

What does a customer support specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a customer support specialist, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   A customer support specialist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, customer support specialists 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.

   The following list breaks down different types of customer support specialists and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Customer Support Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Customer Support Specialist	Customer service representatives interact with customers to handle complaints, process orders, and provide information about an organization’s products and services.	$13-26
   Customer Agent	A customer agent provides friendly service to external and internal customers. Customer agents talk to customers on behalf of businesses and companies... Show more	$12-18
   Support Agent	As the name entails, the job of a customer support agent is to provide excellent support and assistance to both new and existing customers. You will provide customers with information on products or services, oversee and resolve customer complaints, cancellations, errors, and other issues, assist in maintaining customer satisfaction and retention... Show more	$10-28

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Support
   • Phone Calls
   • Compassion
   • Customer Service
   • Digital Marketing
   • Data Entry
   • Excellent Customer Support
   • Technical Support
   • Patients
   • Inbound Calls
   • Troubleshoot
   • Excellent Interpersonal
   • CRM
   • Windows

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Build emails in Luminate system using HTML for mass updates.
   • Design online eBay templates using HTML; list items for sale.
   • Assist in training new CSR's on computer and billing systems.
   • Work for a pet supply business dealing mostly with business to business sales.
   • Assist in research projects for the department & prepare PowerPoint presentations as necessary.
   • Support using SQL to analyze data, write reports and correct errors in data.

   More customer support specialist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your customer support specialist job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A customer support specialist can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, customer support specialists' average salary in utah is 49% less than in district of columbia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level customer support specialists 49% less than senior-level customer support specialists.
   • Certifications. A customer support specialist with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a customer support specialist's salary.

   Average customer support specialist salary

   $39,470yearly

   $18.98 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level customer support specialist salary

   $28,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 26, 2025

   Average customer support specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	District of Columbia	$63,619	$31
   2	Massachusetts	$55,620	$27
   3	Maryland	$54,108	$26
   4	New York	$53,250	$26
   5	Pennsylvania	$51,468	$25
   6	California	$49,685	$24
   7	Michigan	$45,227	$22
   8	Maine	$45,047	$22
   9	Washington	$44,804	$22
   10	Minnesota	$42,552	$20
   11	Ohio	$41,827	$20
   12	Oregon	$41,510	$20
   13	North Carolina	$41,401	$20
   14	Nebraska	$41,141	$20
   15	Kansas	$41,017	$20
   16	Nevada	$40,945	$20
   17	Illinois	$40,350	$19
   18	Texas	$39,170	$19
   19	Colorado	$38,773	$19
   20	Tennessee	$38,380	$18

   Average customer support specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Micron Technology	$89,875	$43.21	4
   2	Goldman Sachs	$76,794	$36.92	5
   3	Planar Systems	$76,090	$36.58
   4	A.M. Best	$75,430	$36.26
   5	Accenture	$73,164	$35.17	190
   6	Vista Equity Partners	$65,948	$31.71
   7	Constellation Energy Partners	$60,936	$29.30	3
   8	SAP	$59,806	$28.75	22
   9	Cummins	$59,679	$28.69	24
   10	Schneider Electric Industrial Services	$58,678	$28.21	14
   11	ABB	$57,714	$27.75	20
   12	Radancy	$51,225	$24.63	2
   13	Intel	$50,858	$24.45
   14	Bayer	$49,780	$23.93	28
   15	eClinicalWorks	$49,422	$23.76
   16	Square	$47,830	$23.00	1
   17	Dana-Farber Cancer Institute	$47,568	$22.87
   18	Ciena	$47,282	$22.73	2
   19	Nokia	$47,252	$22.72	9
   20	PitchBook Data	$46,697	$22.45	6

4. Writing a customer support specialist job description

   A customer support specialist job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a customer support specialist job description:

   Customer support specialist job description example

   Are YOU a friendly and outgoing sales-centered individual that is passionate about helping others achieve their healthcare goals?If so, read on and get ready to Apply!
   What We Can Offer YOU!
   We offer competitive salaries and benefits, work-life balance, flexible work arrangements, opportunities for growth and development, and a great place to work across our enterprise!
   
   What Will Be Your Purpose :
   The purpose of this position is to support a retail store customer experience that is conducive to sales, retention and customer loyalty.
   
   What Will You Be Doing:
   Help ensure all customers (walk-in, telephonic or electronic) are warmly greeted, their needs are assessed quickly, and they are referred to the appropriate setting, person, information, or tools to address their needs. Provide a customer friendly service experience for customers with questions or issues related to health care, health insurance (benefits, claims, premium payments, membership, billing, and enrollment) or other related topics. Use Web based tools and other aids to facilitate and teach customers to use resources, tools, information, and products to manage their health care and health care costs most effectively. Ensure customers understand their products, benefits, tools and how to use them. Cross-promote and identify opportunities for members to participate in value added services and programs available within the retail location. Serve as direct contact and subject matter expert for questions from the general public or existing members related to Health Care Reform
   What You Must Have:
   High school diploma or GED State of Florida 2-40 Health Insurance license 60 Days, Excellent verbal and written communication skill Proficient with MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet, and web-based tools Work flexible hours to include evenings, weekends, and holidays
   What We Prefer:
   Associate degree Experience in insurance industry, physician's office, hospital, or other position in health care industry. Experience in store/retail management Experience with financial products or services Bilingual - Spanish
   General Physical Demands:
   Sedentary work: Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally to move objects. Jobs are sedentary if traversing activities are required only occasionally.
   We are an Equal Opportunity/Protected Veteran/Disabled Employer committed to creating a diverse, inclusive and equitable culture for our employees and communities.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find customer support specialists for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your customer support specialist job on Zippia to find and recruit customer support specialist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit customer support specialists, 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 customer support specialist

   Once you've found the customer support specialist candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new customer support specialist. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

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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