Office and administrative support
Customer service representative
Interact with customers to provide basic or scripted information in response to routine inquiries about products and services. May handle and resolve general complaints. Excludes individuals whose duties are primarily installation, sales, repair, and technical support.
Median pay
$44,770
Growth to 2035
−5%
declining
Openings a year
289,500
Time to qualify*
1 month
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Customer service representative
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- None
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Exposure to disease
Customer service representative: 17% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- 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.
- Keep records of customer interactions or transactions, recording details of inquiries, complaints, or comments, as well as actions taken.
- Check to ensure that appropriate changes were made to resolve customers' problems.
- Contact customers to respond to inquiries or to notify them of claim investigation results or any planned adjustments.
- Determine charges for services requested, collect deposits or payments, or arrange for billing.
- Complete contract forms, prepare change of address records, or issue service discontinuance orders, using computers.
- Refer unresolved customer grievances to designated departments for further investigation.
Also called: Account Representative · Call Center Representative · Client Services Representative · Customer Care Representative (CCR) · Customer Service Agent · Customer Service Representative (CSR) · Customer Service Specialist · Customer Support Representative (Customer Support Rep)
Outlook and AI
Customer service representatives held 2,666,000 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 2,524,100 by 2035 (−5%, declining; all jobs: +3.5%).
Capital/labor substitution - share decreases as advances in speech and language processing and in artificial intelligence (AI) allow computers to handle customer service interactions with greater frequency.
Compare with
- Customer service representative vs. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services, and travel
- Customer service representative vs. Telemarketer
- Customer service representative vs. Insurance claims and policy processing clerks
- Customer service representative vs. Credit authorizers, checkers, and clerks
- Customer service representative vs. New accounts clerk
- Customer service representative vs. Receptionists and information clerks
- Customer service representative vs. Billing and posting clerks
- Customer service representative vs. Brokerage clerk
- Customer service representative vs. Bill and account collectors
- Customer service representative vs. Order clerk