More than 2,581 companies advertise 11,162 Customer Service/Sales Representative jobs on SimplyHired and its partner sites each year. After analyzing job postings and salary information from these companies, as well as direct job seeker feedback, we’ve compiled a list of insights to show you how to attract and hire your next Customer Service/Sales Representative most efficiently.

In the past quarter, we’ve seen 3,781 job posts from 982 employers in the United States. This is a increase of 46.1% compared to the previous quarter. On average, there are 126 Customer Service/Sales Representative job seekers for every active Customer Service/Sales Representative job, which shows that it is an employer's market.

In the past quarter, Customer Service Representative, Call Center Representative, Sales Representative, Receptionist, Administrative Assistant, Retail Sales Associate, Delivery Driver, Front Desk Agent, Warehouse Worker, and Inside Sales Representative seem to be the most sought after jobs amongst the Customer Service/Sales Representative candidates in the United States. This differs from the last six quarters, where the most popular titles were: Customer Service Representative, Call Center Representative, Sales Representative, Receptionist, Administrative Assistant, Retail Sales Associate, Inside Sales Representative, Front Desk Agent, Delivery Driver, and Sales Associate. If you use one of these currently popular titles in the job description, you'll likely be able to attract a lot more candidates to apply.

For the Customer Service/Sales Representative candidates who are actively applying to jobs in this same period, we see that 9.7% of the active Customer Service/Sales Representative candidates have less than 3 years of experience, 17.4% have between 3-5 years of experience, 29.6% have 6-10 years of experience, and 43.4% have over 10 years of experience. The average years of experience has shifted from an estimated 9.5 years to 8.6 years. If you're posting a job in today's market, expect candidates with about the same experience level to apply to your job compared to the last 2 quarters.

In the previous quarter, the most popular skills that employers are looking for include customer service, communication skills, sales, computer skills, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Spanish, Microsoft Outlook, and bilingual. Demand for English, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, landscape maintenance, irrigation, multilingualism, Spanish, retail sales, and analysis skills has significantly increased. If you are looking for a Customer Service/Sales Representative with a similar skill set, be sure to follow industry best practices in skill requirements.

Job posts with salary information received about 2.8 as many applies as those without it. In the past quarter, less than 39.7% of the job posts displayed salary information. By adding salary information to your job posting, you could potentially increase the number of applicants by approximately 180.0%.

• Explaining products or services to customers
• Applying customer loyalty programs
• Helping customers resolve problems
• Handling customer complaints
• Selling additional products or services to existing customer accounts

When reaching out to candidates, it’s best to understand where to look. We’ve identified hiring trends in states as well as companies regularly hiring for Customer Service/Sales Representative positions. This should provide a good place to start looking for qualified candidates. According to our data in the last quarter: California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina are the states that have the highest demand for Customer Service/Sales Representatives. California, Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and Illinois are where most job seekers are searching for Customer Service/Sales Representative jobs. If we look at the Customer Service/Sales Representative to job ratio, Arizona, Kansas, South Dakota, Montana, and Rhode Island have the lowest number of Customer Service/Sales Representative applicants per job. Nevada, Delaware, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Oklahoma have the most active Customer Service/Sales Representative job seekers per job.

While actively recruiting candidates for your role, you should also post your job to SimplyHired. By posting for free and paying only for the qualified applicants you want, your post will automatically go to a network of job boards to reach millions of qualified candidates. With SimplyHired, it doesn’t end with the post. You can track your applicants throughout the hiring process with our simple and easy to use Applicant Tracking System (ATS).

In the last quarter, we estimate there are 475,590 job seekers interested in Customer Service/Sales Representative opportunities in the United States. That’s a 41.2% increase compared to the previous quarter with 336,792 active job seekers. Around 9.7% of the active Customer Service/Sales Representative candidates have less than 3 years of experience, over 17.4% have between 3-5 years of experience, 29.6% have 6-10 years of experience, and 43.4% have over 10 years of experience. The average experience level of the available Customer Service/Sales Representative candidates is 8.6 years. Active candidates in the Customer Service/Sales Representative profession most commonly have high school diplomas, followed by bachelor's degrees, associate's degrees, and master's degrees. When setting education requirements for your position, aligning with the industry standard makes it easier to find potential candidates. Application rates indicate that Customer Service/Sales Representative candidates are likely experiencing a market in which applicants have less negotiating power. From an employer perspective, you'll have a greater selection of candidates to choose from and may want to invest in automated screening tools.

After analyzing post-interview data from Customer Service/Sales Representative candidates in the last 6 months, we see more than 38.6% of the candidates self-reported being hired within 1 to 2 days. Around 88.8% of the candidates for this job reported being hired within 2 weeks. If your process takes longer than 2 weeks in the recent market, you'll likely lose these candidates to other employers. Most of the Customer Service/Sales Representative candidates are expecting a on-site interview, phone call/screening, background check, and problem solving exercises. Most employers do not require a drug test, written test, or presentation. If you are trying to hire your next Customer Service/Sales Representative quickly, consider simplifying and streamlining the hiring process. As for the interview experience, more than 72.0% of the candidates had a good or great interview experience, and more than 43% of the candidates thought that the interview leaned more towards easy.

• What was the last non-work related book you read?
• How do you help customers find their way around a store?
• How do you keep your products organized and well stocked?
• How do you solve problems you encounter in the workplace?
• Describe a time when your ability to adapt saves the situation from disaster.

The average Customer Service/Sales Representative salary offered by employers increased for 2 out of 6 consecutive quarters in the United States. In the last quarter, we see a increase of 7% from $39,684.2 to $42,606.67 compared to the quarter before, which is on par with the past 6 quarters. For Customer Service/Sales Representative positions, the most common benefits job seekers reported being offered by employers include: paid time off by 59.5%, healthcare insurance by 54.8%, dental insurance by 52.4%, vision insurance by 50.0%, discounts by 47.6%, a 401k plan by 45.2%, and stock options/grants by 9.5%. While still relatively rare, more and more employers now offer flexibility benefits, including maternity leave, fully remote, sabbaticals, mostly remote, flexible working hours, location variety, paternity leave, and somewhat remote, to attract and retain Customer Service/Sales Representative candidates to their organization.

According to self-reported job seeker feedback, 39.7% of the employers conducted a background check, and 22.2% of the employers conducted a drug test prior to the hiring of their Customer Service/Sales Representative candidates.