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Customer Service Representative: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Oct 24, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of customer service representatives earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$44,770
Hourly
$21.53
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Customer Service Representatives interact with customers to provide basic or scripted information in response to routine inquiries about products and services. The median pay is $44,770 a year ($21.53 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a high school diploma or equivalent (55% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$44,770
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
2,595,750
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 2 of 5
some preparation
Most common education
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
55% of workers
Explore the role

Every page for Customer Service Representatives

ResumeCustomer Service Representative resume

Keywords, bullet formulas and the skills to prove.

Open →Interview questionsCustomer Service Representative interview questions

Questions with what they test, plus practice mode.

Open →Free toolCheck your resume

Parsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.

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The work

What customer service representatives do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Confer with customers by telephone or in person to provide information about products or services, take or enter orders, cancel accounts, or obtain details of complaints.
  2. Keep records of customer interactions or transactions, recording details of inquiries, complaints, or comments, as well as actions taken.
  3. Check to ensure that appropriate changes were made to resolve customers' problems.
  4. Contact customers to respond to inquiries or to notify them of claim investigation results or any planned adjustments.
  5. Determine charges for services requested, collect deposits or payments, or arrange for billing.
  6. Complete contract forms, prepare change of address records, or issue service discontinuance orders, using computers.
  7. Refer unresolved customer grievances to designated departments for further investigation.
Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Service OrientationcoreActive ListeningcoreSpeakingcoreReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingComplex Problem SolvingTime ManagementSocial PerceptivenessPersuasion

Knowledge areas: Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Administration and Management, Sales and Marketing, Mathematics, Administrative.

Tools and technology

Software customer service representatives use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • Adobe Creative Cloud softwareGraphics or photo imaging softwareHot technology
  • Adobe IllustratorGraphics or photo imaging softwareHot technology
  • Adobe PhotoshopGraphics or photo imaging softwareHot technology
  • FacebookWeb page creation and editing softwareHot technology
  • Kronos Workforce TimekeeperTime accounting softwareHot technology
  • MEDITECH softwareMedical softwareHot technology
  • SlackCloud-based data access and sharing softwareHot technology
  • ADP Workforce NowHuman resources software
  • Active Data Online WebChatNetwork conferencing software
  • Citrix cloud computing softwareAccess software
  • DSC Pacer Interactive Voice Response SystemVoice recognition software
  • Delphi TechnologyFinancial analysis software

Also called: Account Representative, Call Center Representative, Client Services Representative, Customer Care Representative (CCR), Customer Service Agent, Customer Service Representative (CSR).

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).