How to Make Your Next Customer Support Representative Hire

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Last updated at 09-15-2020 16:03:57

Overview

Methodology

More than 6,205 companies advertise 30,948 Customer Support 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 Support Representative most efficiently.

Hiring Process

In the past quarter, we’ve seen 9,060 job posts from 2,574 employers in the United States. This is a increase of 27.9% compared to the previous quarter. On average, there are 211 Customer Support Representative job seekers for every active Customer Support Representative job, which shows that it is an employer's market.

Writing a Job Description

In the past quarter, Customer Service Representative, Call Center Representative, Receptionist, Administrative Assistant, Customer Support Representative, Warehouse Worker, Front Desk Agent, Delivery Driver, Data Entry Clerk, and Retail Sales Associate seem to be the most sought after jobs amongst the Customer Support 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, Administrative Assistant, Receptionist, Customer Support Representative, Front Desk Agent, Retail Sales Associate, Data Entry Clerk, Sales Representative, and Delivery Driver. 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 Support Representative candidates who are actively applying to jobs in this same period, we see that 7.3% of the active Customer Support Representative candidates have less than 3 years of experience, 17.1% have between 3-5 years of experience, 31.4% have 6-10 years of experience, and 44.2% have over 10 years of experience. The average years of experience has shifted from an estimated 8.4 years to 8.4 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, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Excel, computer skills, Microsoft Word, English, bilingualism, Spanish, and customer support. Demand for customer support, computer literacy, writing skills, English, Spanish, phone etiquette, windows, typing, multilingualism, and live chat has significantly increased. If you are looking for a Customer Support Representative with a similar skill set, be sure to follow industry best practices in skill requirements.

Job posts with salary information received about 2.3 as many applies as those without it. In the past quarter, less than 29.3% 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 130.0%.

Example Customer Support Representative responsibilities

  • Answer questions and provide information about products or services using the knowledge of products and company policies
  • Discuss and offer options to solve a problem or deal with a complaint
  • Follow up with customers and ensure satisfaction by resolving complaints and answering questions
  • Transfer calls to the appropriate staff members
  • Schedule appointments for clients or make reservations at a restaurant

Recruiting

Active Recruiting

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 Support Representative positions. This should provide a good place to start looking for qualified candidates. According to our data in the last quarter: Texas, California, Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia are the states that have the highest demand for Customer Support Representatives. Texas, Florida, California, Georgia, and North Carolina are where most job seekers are searching for Customer Support Representative jobs. If we look at the Customer Support Representative to job ratio, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Vermont, Iowa, and Minnesota have the lowest number of Customer Support Representative applicants per job. Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Maine, and South Carolina have the most active Customer Support Representative job seekers per job.

Passive Recruiting

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).

Review Candidates

In the last quarter, we estimate there are 1,847,928 job seekers interested in Customer Support Representative opportunities in the United States. That’s a 27.9% increase compared to the previous quarter with 1,492,988 active job seekers. Around 7.3% of the active Customer Support Representative candidates have less than 3 years of experience, over 17.1% have between 3-5 years of experience, 31.4% have 6-10 years of experience, and 44.2% have over 10 years of experience. The average experience level of the available Customer Support Representative candidates is 8.4 years. Active candidates in the Customer Support 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 Support 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.

Interviewing Candidates

Interview Process

*Self-reported data collected from 6,828 Customer Support Representatives from 1/1/2020 to 6/30/2020, via online employer reviews for companies including Anthem, Inc., Teleperformance, CVS Health, Concentrix, Alorica, Conduent, Alight Solutions, Asurion, AT&T, and ADT Security Services.

After analyzing post-interview data from Customer Support Representative candidates in the last 6 months, we see more than 43.3% of the candidates self-reported being hired within 1 to 2 days. Around 86.8% 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 Support Representative candidates are expecting a on-site interview, phone call/screening, written test, and background check. Most employers do not require a group interview or drug test. If you are trying to hire your next Customer Support Representative quickly, consider simplifying and streamlining the hiring process. As for the interview experience, more than 67.9% of the candidates had a good or great interview experience, and more than 37% of the candidates thought that the interview leaned more towards easy.

Example Interview Questions

  • Can you tell me about yourself?
  • What do you like about the company?
  • What are some of your strengths?
  • What are your career goals?
  • Why do you want to be a [job title]?

Final Review and Offer

Reference Check

Checking references is a quick and easy way to check for any red flags that didn’t arise to this point in the hiring process. Great insights can be provided by former colleagues and employers.

Crafting an Offer: Salary and Benefits

The average Customer Support Representative salary offered by employers increased for 3 out of 6 consecutive quarters in the United States. In the last quarter, we see a decrease of 2% from $40,831.59 to $40,208.02 compared to the quarter before, which is on par with the past 6 quarters. For Customer Support Representative positions, the most common benefits job seekers reported being offered by employers include: healthcare insurance by 77.3%, paid time off by 73.4%, dental insurance by 70.0%, vision insurance by 65.9%, a 401k plan by 62.6%, discounts by 45.9%, and stock options/grants by 17.1%. While still relatively rare, more and more employers now offer flexibility benefits, including paternity leave, sabbaticals, fully remote, flexible working hours, somewhat remote, location variety, maternity leave, and mostly remote, to attract and retain Customer Support Representative candidates to their organization.

Background Check and Drug Test

According to self-reported job seeker feedback, 34.9% of the employers conducted a background check, and 16.8% of the employers conducted a drug test prior to the hiring of their Customer Support Representative candidates.

Onboarding

When you’re ready to hire a Customer Support Representative, SimplyHired is here to help with your next steps. Our Human Resources Information System (HRIS) provides onboarding tools and other essential HR tools. From document signing to time off tracking, our HRIS will help you seamlessly move a Customer Support Representative candidate through the hiring and onboarding process.
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