Since respresentative is such a broad term, you can really take your pick when it comes to having a career as one. Maybe you want to pursue customer service or politics. Either way, representatives are very important for the people they're serving.
As a representative, it's important that you present yourself well. A state representative needs to be a likeable figure for people to vote into office, while a customer service representative needs to put on an understanding face when presented with a customer complaint.
Representatives work all sorts of hours, depending on the industry they've picked. Luckily, there are so many industries that a representative can go into that you'll have plenty of job opportunities available.
What is a Representative?
What Does a Representative Do
There are certain skills that many representatives have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed computer skills, customer-service skills and listening skills.
How To Become a Representative
If you're interested in becoming a representative, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 52.5% of representatives have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 6.1% of representatives have master's degrees. Even though most representatives have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Representative Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a representative can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as specialist, progress to a title such as team leader and then eventually end up with the title account manager.
Representative
Account Manager
5 Years
District Sales Manager
7 Years
Product Manager
6 Years
Director Of Sales
10 Years
Senior Account Manager
7 Years
Business Development Manager
9 Years
Show More
Average Salary for a Representative
Representatives in America make an average salary of $36,023 per year or $17 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $55,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $23,000 per year.
Average Representative Salary
$36,023Â Yearly$17.32 hourly
$23,000
10 %
$36,000
Median
$55,000
90 %
What Am I Worth?
States With The Most Representative Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active representative jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where representatives earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Average Salary: Job Openings:
Number Of Representative Jobs By State
Top Skills For a Representative
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 19.7% of representatives listed cleanliness on their resume, but soft skills such as computer skills and customer-service skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Representative Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Representative templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Representative resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Representative Demographics
Representative Gender Distribution
Female
58%
Male
42%
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among representatives, 58.2% of them are women, while 41.8% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among representatives is White, which makes up 59.3% of all representatives.
- The most common foreign language among representatives is Spanish at 57.8%.
Online Courses For Representative That You May Like
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Best States For a Representative
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a representative. The best states for people in this position are New York, Delaware, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Representatives make the most in New York with an average salary of $56,253. Whereas in Delaware and Massachusetts, they would average $56,212 and $51,392, respectively. While representatives would only make an average of $50,276 in New Jersey, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Pennsylvania
Total Representative Jobs:
7,042
Highest 10% Earn:
$82,000
Location Quotient:
1.24
$47,319
Avg. Salary
2. New Jersey
Total Representative Jobs:
4,346
Highest 10% Earn:
$88,000
Location Quotient:
1.12
$50,276
Avg. Salary
3. Rhode Island
Total Representative Jobs:
702
Highest 10% Earn:
$80,000
Location Quotient:
1.18
$46,818
Avg. Salary
How Do Representative Rate Their Jobs?
5.0
Manufacturer's representative • May 2019
5.0
Manufacturer's representative • May 2019What do you like the most about working as Representative?
I am a freelance home based sales agent, if you are looking for to extend your business in Turkey , Malaysia or in Europe please get in touch with me to discuss for further opportunities. Show MoreWhat do you NOT like?
I do not like slowness and lie Show MoreTop Representative Employers
Most Common Employers For Representative
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bloomberg | $67,248 | $32.33 | 67 |
| 2 | AT&T | $42,340 | $20.36 | 211 |
| 3 | Xerox | $39,225 | $18.86 | 90 |
| 4 | FedEx | $37,401 | $17.98 | 356 |
| 5 | T-Mobile | $36,664 | $17.63 | 118 |
| 6 | Comcast | $36,081 | $17.35 | 72 |
| 7 | Amazon | $35,282 | $16.96 | 74 |
| 8 | Robert Half | $34,266 | $16.47 | 50 |
| 9 | Banner Health | $33,506 | $16.11 | 57 |
| 10 | ThirdChannel | $33,474 | $16.09 | 42 |
Representative Videos
Customer Service Representative, Career Video from drkit.org
Career Advice - Customer Services Representative and Semi-Pro Cyclist by Jenny D (Full Version)
Career Advice on becoming a Community Management Representative by Mark H (Highlights)
Becoming a Representative FAQs
How Long Does It Take To Become A Representative?
It takes 3 years of professional experience to become a representative. That is the time it takes to learn specific representative skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education.
How Much Does A Representative Make A Year?
A representative makes an average of $59,930 a year. The range in pay can start as low as $42,070 a year to as high as $85,730 a year. Factors such as years of experience working as a representative and location can impact earning potential.
Have more questions? See all answers to common office and administrative questions.