Maintaining a high-quality customer experience is a significant CV challenge in your call centre environment, often due to rapidly fluctuating call volumes and diverse customer queries. By delving into our guide, you'll find practical strategies to leverage CV technologies, helping you to optimise response times and personalise customer interactions efficiently.
- Answer job requirements with your call centre CV and experience;
- Curate your academic background and certificates, following industry-leading CV examples;
- Select from +10 niche skills to match the ideal candidate profile
- Write a more succinct experience section that consists of all the right details.
Do you need more specific insights into writing your call centre CV? Our guides focus on unique insights for each individual role:
How to ensure your profile stands out with your call centre CV format
It's sort of a Catch 22. You want your call centre CV to stand out amongst a pile of candidate profiles, yet you don't want it to be too over the top that it's unreadable. Where is the perfect balance between your CV format simple, while using it to shift the focus to what matters most. That is - your expertise. When creating your call centre CV:- list your experience in the reverse chronological order - starting with your latest roles;
- include a header with your professional contact information and - optionally - your photograph;
- organise vital and relevant CV sections - e.g. your experience, skills, summary/ objective, education - closer to the top;
- use no more than two pages to illustrate your professional expertise;
- format your information using plenty of white space and standard (2.54 cm) margins, with colours to accent key information.
Once you've completed your information, export your call centre CV in PDF, as this format is more likely to stay intact when read by the Applicant Tracker System or the ATS. A few words of advice about the ATS - or the software used to assess your profile:
- Generic fonts, e.g. Arial and Times New Roman, are ATS-compliant, yet many candidates stick with these safe choices. Ensure your CV stands out by using a more modern, and simple, fonts like Lato, Exo 2, Volkhov;
- All serif and sans-serif fonts are ATS-friendly. Avoid the likes of fancy decorative or script typography, as this may render your information to be illegible;
- Both single- and double-column formatted CVs could be assessed by the ATS;
- Integrating simple infographics, icons, and charts across your CV won't hurt your chances during the ATS assessment.
PRO TIP
Use bold or italics sparingly to draw attention to key points, such as job titles, company names, or significant achievements. Overusing these formatting options can dilute their impact.
The top sections on a call centre CV
- Contact Information enables swift communication.
- Work Experience showcases relevant call centre roles.
- Key Skills section highlights customer service abilities.
- Education Background verifies academic qualifications.
- Language Proficiency demonstrates communication skills.
What recruiters value on your CV:
- Highlight your excellent communication skills by specifying any previous roles or volunteering experiences where you dealt with people over the phone or face-to-face.
- Showcase your ability to handle high-volume tasks by quantifying the number of calls or customers you've managed in a period in previous positions.
- Detail your experience with customer service tools and software, such as CRM systems or telephone systems used in call centres, to demonstrate technical proficiency.
- Include any language skills or dialects you are fluent in, as multilingual abilities can be particularly advantageous in call centre roles.
- Mention your problem-solving skills with examples of difficult customer queries you've successfully resolved, emphasising your proactive approach to customer satisfaction.
Recommended reads:
Making a good first impression with your call centre CV header
Your typical CV header consists of Your typical CV header consists of contact details and a headline. Make sure to list your professional phone number, email address, and a link to your professional portfolio (or, alternatively, your LinkedIn profile). When writing your CV headline , ensure it's:
- tailored to the job you're applying for;
- highlights your unique value as a professional;
- concise, yet matches relevant job ad keywords.
You can, for examples, list your current job title or a particular skill as part of your headline. Now, if you decide on including your photo in your CV header, ensure it's a professional one, rather than one from your graduation or night out. You may happen to have plenty more questions on how to make best the use of your CV headline. We'll help you with some real-world examples, below.
Examples of good CV headlines for call centre:
- Call Centre Associate | Excellent Customer Service Skills | 2+ Years Experience | NVQ Level 2 Qualified
- Senior Call Centre Representative | Troubleshooting Expert | Team Leadership | 5 Years' Sector Experience
- Call Centre Manager | Strategic Planning | People Management | BSc Business Management | 10 Years' Expertise
- Customer Relations Specialist | Inbound Call Expertise | Conflict Resolution | 3 Years' Professional Engagement
- Telesales Executive | Outbound Campaigns | Sales Targets Exceeding | Cert. in Sales | 4+ Years' Success
- Helpdesk Analyst | Technical Support | ITIL Foundation Certified | Complex Issue Resolution | 7 Years' Commitment
Choosing your opening statement: a call centre CV summary or objective
At the top one third of your CV, you have the chance to make a more personable impression on recruiters by selecting between:
- Summary - or those three to five sentences that you use to show your greatest achievements. Use the CV summary if you happen to have plenty of relevant experience and wish to highlight your greatest successes;
- Objective - provides you with up to five sentences to state your professional aims and mission in the company you're applying for
CV summaries for a call centre job:
- A seasoned call centre professional with 7 years of experience in providing exceptional customer service for a leading telecommunications firm. Proven track record in reducing average call handling time by 20% through efficient problem-solving and advanced technical knowledge in CRM systems. Recognised for maintaining customer satisfaction scores above 90% consistently.
- Dedicated call centre manager boasting a decade of hands-on experience in dynamic financial service environments. Expert in cultivating and leading high-performing teams to exceed service delivery goals, achieving a 30% increase in upselling success rates. Adept in strategic planning and in-depth analysis of customer feedback to drive continuous improvement.
- Highly-motivated marketing specialist aiming to leverage 5 years of client-facing experience into a customer-focused role within the call centre industry. Armed with a solid understanding of consumer behaviour analytics and a commitment to fostering positive consumer relations, eager to deliver tangible results in customer satisfaction and retention.
- Dynamic retail supervisor eager to transfer 4 years of customer service and team management experience into the fast-paced world of call centres. Aligned with a strong drive to exceed customer expectations and achieve successful conflict resolution through impeccable communication skills and a customer-first philosophy.
- Action-oriented professional with no prior call centre experience, possessing a strong desire to develop a career in customer support. Highly enthusiastic about acquiring new communication techniques and mastering advanced customer service technologies to deliver first-rate service experiences.
- Recent graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and no specific call centre experience, aiming to utilise strong interpersonal and problem-solving abilities in a customer service setting. Keen to learn industry-standard practices and contribute to achieving high customer satisfaction scores through active listening and empathy.
Best practices for writing your call centre CV experience section
If your profile matches the job requirements, the CV experience is the section which recruiters will spend the most time studying. Within your experience bullets, include not merely your career history, but, rather, your skills and outcomes from each individual role. Your best experience section should promote your profile by:
- including specific details and hard numbers as proof of your past success;
- listing your experience in the functional-based or hybrid format (by focusing on the skills), if you happen to have less professional, relevant expertise;
- showcasing your growth by organising your roles, starting with the latest and (hopefully) most senior one;
- staring off each experience bullet with a verb, following up with skills that match the job description, and the outcomes of your responsibility.
Add keywords from the job advert in your experience section, like the professional CV examples:
Best practices for your CV's work experience section
- Highlighted proficiency in managing a high volume of incoming calls, consistently maintaining courteous and professional communication, whilst efficiently solving customer queries.
- Demonstrated ability to utilise CRM systems to record customer interactions, track issues and follow up with customers, ensuring a cohesive service experience.
- Experience in meeting and exceeding set targets for call handling time and customer satisfaction scores, contributing to the overall success of the team.
- Trained new employees on call centre etiquette, software use and conflict resolution techniques, fostering a supportive and knowledgeable work environment.
- Showcased excellent problem-solving skills by identifying customer issues and providing appropriate, swift solutions that adhered to company policies.
- Managed escalated calls with empathy and professionalism, working diligently to resolve high-stress situations to the satisfaction of both the customer and the company.
- Collaborated with the team to share best practices and strategies for improving call efficiency and enhancing the customer service experience.
- Adapted to and efficiently used various communication platforms, including telephone, email, and live chat, to engage with and support customers.
- Kept up-to-date with all the company's products and services, enabling effective cross-selling and up-selling during customer interactions.
- Efficiently managed over 60 customer interactions per day, maintaining a resolution rate above 95%, thereby ensuring customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Collaborated with the IT department to integrate a new CRM system, leading to a 30% decrease in average call handling time and enhancing customer service efficiency.
- Championed a cross-training initiative for 25 agents to cover multiple product lines, which maximised workforce flexibility and reduced dependency on specialist agents.
- Directed a team of 15 call centre agents, achieving a 10% increase in productivity through the implementation of motivational strategies and regular performance feedback.
- Played a key role in the launch of a new telecommunications service, contributing to a 20% boost in up-sell rates during the first quarter post-launch.
- Designed and delivered training sessions that improved the team's objection handling skills, increasing customer retention by 18%.
- Successfully surpassed sales targets by 25% for five consecutive quarters through effective call strategies and a deep understanding of customer needs.
- Implemented a peer-mentoring program, leading to a 40% improvement in new agents' ramp-up time and contributing to the overall knowledge-sharing culture.
- Received the ‘Agent of the Year’ award twice for consistently achieving the highest customer satisfaction scores in the team.
- Developed a comprehensive bilingual support strategy that resulted in capturing a 20% larger market segment of non-English-speaking customers.
- Served as the first point of contact for technical support, demonstrating high problem-solving skills by maintaining an average first-call resolution score of 92%.
- Initiated a weekly knowledge-sharing workshop for call center agents, significantly reducing recurring issue escalations by 35%.
- Implemented a customer feedback loop that informed product teams of common issues, ultimately contributing to a 15% reduction in customer complaints.
- Established and maintained robust relationships with over 200 regular clients, becoming the go-to agent for resolving complex account inquiries.
- Contributed to developing a call script that reduced average call duration by 20%, allowing more customers to be served without compromising service quality.
- Spearheaded a project to integrate artificial intelligence in customer interactions, reducing resolution time by 50% for common inquiries.
- Trained and mentored over 30 new agents in the use of VoIP technology and soft skills required for handling complex customer interactions.
- Analysed customer interaction data to identify trends and presented findings to the management, driving a change in the call center approach that increased customer satisfaction by 22%.
- Orchestrated the adoption of a new interactive voice response (IVR) system which improved customer self-service options by 30% and reduced caller wait time.
- Masterminded monthly incentive schemes that propelled the sales team to consistently surpass monthly targets by at least 15%, driving overall profitability.
- Conducted in-depth analysis of customer satisfaction surveys to reshape training programs, enhancing communication skills across the workforce.
- Led a high-stakes migration project for a call centre system upgrade, ensuring seamless transition for 50+ agents with zero downtime.
- Implemented customer relationship management strategies that improved long-term customer value and increased repeat business by 18%.
- Mastered product knowledge to such an extent that it led to recognition as a subject matter expert, enabling the resolution of complex issues without additional research.
Lacking professional expertise: how to write your CV to highlight your best talents
Don't count on your lucky stars when you're applying for a role, where you happen to have less (or almost none) professional experience. Recruiters sometimes do hire inexperienced candidates if they're able to present their unique value from the get-go. So, instead of opting for the traditional, CV experience section:
- List any applicable expertise you happen to have - no matter if it's a part-time job, internship, or volunteer work. This would hint to recruiters that your profile is relevant;
- Focus your CV on your transferrable skills or talents you've obtained thanks to your whole life and work experience. In effect, you'll be spotlighting your value as a candidate;
- Separate more space for your applicable academic background and certificates to show you have the technical know-how;
- Ensure that within your objective, you've defined why you'll like the job and how you'll be the perfect match for it. Always ensure you've tailored your CV to individual applications.
Looking for more good examples for your first job? We'll show you how other candidates, with less professional experience, have created their job-winning CVs.
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Describe how each job helped you grow or learn something new, showing a continuous development path in your career.
Mix and match hard and soft skills across your call centre CV
Your skill set play an equally valid role as your experience to your application. That is because recruiters are looking for both:
- hard skills or your aptitude in applying particular technologies
- soft skills or your ability to work in a team using your personal skills, e.g. leadership, time management, etc.
Are you wondering how you should include both hard and soft skills across your call centre CV? Use the:
- skills section to list between ten and twelve technologies that are part of the job requirement (and that you're capable to use);
- strengths and achievements section to detail how you've used particular hard and soft skills that led to great results for you at work;
- summary or objective to spotlight up to three skills that are crucial for the role and how they've helped you optimise your work processes.
One final note - when writing about the skills you have, make sure to match them exactly as they are written in the job ad. Take this precautionary measure to ensure your CV passes the Applicant Tracker System (ATS) assessment.
Top skills for your call centre CV:
Customer Service
Telephone Etiquette
CRM Software Proficiency
Data Entry
Technical Support
Product Knowledge
Sales Ability
Multitasking
Typing Speed
Complaint Resolution
Communication
Active Listening
Empathy
Patience
Problem-Solving
Adaptability
Stress Management
Teamwork
Positive Attitude
Persuasion
PRO TIP
If you have received professional endorsements or recommendations for certain skills, especially on platforms like LinkedIn, mention these to add credibility.
Your university degree and certificates: an integral part of your call centre CV
Let's take you back to your uni days and decide what information will be relevant for your call centre CV. Once more, when discussing your higher education, select only information that is pertinent to the job (e.g. degrees and projects in the same industry, etc.). Ultimately, you should:
- List only your higher education degrees, alongside start and graduation dates, and the university name;
- Include that you obtained a first degree for diplomas that are relevant to the role, and you believe will impress recruiters;
- Showcase relevant coursework, projects, or publications, if you happen to have less experience or will need to fill in gaps in your professional history.
PRO TIP
Use mini case studies or success stories in your CV to demonstrate how your skills have positively impacted previous roles or projects.
Recommended reads:
Key takeaways
Impressing recruiters with your experience, skill set, and values starts with your professional call centre CV. Write concisely and always aim to answer job requirements with what you've achieved; furthermore:
- Select a simple design that complements your experience and ensures your profile is presentable;
- Include an opening statement that either spotlights your key achievements (summary) or showcases your career ambitions (objective);
- Curate your experience bullets, so that each one commences with a strong, action verb and is followed up by your skill and accomplishment;
- List your hard and soft skills all across different sections of your CV to ensure your application meets the requirements;
- Dedicate space to your relevant higher education diplomas and your certificates to show recruiters you have the necessary industry background.
