How To Become A Customer Agent: What It Is and Career Path

What is a customer agent and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A customer agent is an individual who provides support and assistance to customers of a company. They are responsible for answering questions, resolving issues, and providing guidance to customers via phone, email, or chat. Customer agents also handle complaints and ensure customer satisfaction. A customer agent must be patient, empathetic, and able to remain calm under pressure. Their goal is to provide exceptional customer service and build positive relationships with customers.

ScoreCustomer AgentUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $31,834

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

5.9

Growth Rate -4%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.75%

Asian 6.99%

Black or African American 11.91%

Hispanic or Latino 19.33%

Unknown 5.47%

White 55.56%

Gender

female 56.23%

male 43.77%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress Level

5.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.6

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

6.5

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a Customer Agent?

Pros

Opportunity to interact with diverse people
Chance to develop problem-solving skills
Possibility of acquiring transferable skills
Opportunity to work from home
Chance to earn bonuses and incentives

Cons

High-stress environment due to dealing with difficult customers
Possibility of working long hours
Need to adhere to strict schedules
Possibility of facing verbal abuse from customers
Need to meet high productivity targets regularly

Key steps to become a customer agent

Explore customer agent education requirements

Most common customer agent degrees

Bachelor's

41.9 %

Associate

21.0 %

High School Diploma

20.9 %

Start to develop specific customer agent skills

Skills	Percentages
Data Entry	12.31%
Customer Service	10.23%
Outbound Calls	9.74%
Customer Satisfaction	8.25%
Troubleshoot	5.41%

Complete relevant customer agent training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New customer agents learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a customer agent based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real customer agent resumes.

Research customer agent duties and responsibilities

Manage and plan escalations; assure HIPPA guidelines are followed for confidentially and privacy.
Demonstrate superb organizational and multitasking abilities
Demonstrate superb organizational and multitasking abilities

Prepare your customer agent resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your customer agent resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a customer agent resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Customer Agent Resume templates

Build a professional Customer Agent resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Customer Agent resume.