Entering the Customer Service Field
As it can be difficult to show customer service skills on a resume, entry into the Customer Service sector can be difficult. It’s important to collect a range of experiences working with people to show that you have developed interpersonal skills and experience.
If you’re wanting to enter the Customer Service field, it’s recommended that you volunteer in a customer service setting to improve on your communication skills and gain a reference in Customer Service. Volunteering in a retail environment can also help you to gain experience using a Point-Of-Sale system (POS) as well as debit/credit machines.
Where to apply?
A Customer Service resume is not one-size-fits-all. You’ll need to decide what type of Customer Service you want to do so that you can properly target your resume (an Employment Counsellor can help to teach you this skill).
One way to find your niche in Customer Service is to consider your background skills and knowledge. As an example, if you’ve had experience as a cook or enjoy cooking at home, perhaps helping customers in a boutique grocery store might be a good fit. If you speak several languages you would be an asset working in a hotel, a bank or a tourist information centre.
It’s also important to consider your working environment, physical demands, and hours. For example, if you aren’t able to do heavy lifting you’ll want to avoid jobs that require a lot of stocking of shelves or unloading deliveries. If you aren’t able to sit or stand of long periods of time you may want to consider jobs that avoid either of those positions. Do you like fast-paced, hectic environments, such as in a fast-food restaurant, or do you like small and quiet locations like a small retail store?
With such a broad field as Customer Service it’s important to assess your skill set, your background knowledge, and the environment and physical demands so that you can properly target your job search. An Employment Counsellor can help to work through these considerations and give you some tips on the targeted job search.
