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Customer service assistant

Customer service assistants deal with customer questions, purchases and complaints.

Annual Salary

£17,000 to £25,000

Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)

Working hours

37 to 40 a week

You could work: evenings / weekends / bank holidays; on shifts

4%
Future employment

There will be 4% more Customer service assistant jobs in 2027.

Day to day tasks

In this role you could:

  • answer customer questions by phone, email, webchat, social media or in person
  • give quotations and check product availability
  • sell products or services and take payments
  • handle complaints or pass them to a supervisor
  • add customer information onto a computer
  • track orders and arrange deliveries

Working environment

You may need to wear a uniform.

You could work in an office, in a contact centre or at a store.

You can get into this job through:

  • a college course
  • an apprenticeship
  • applying directly
College

You can take a college course before applying for a job.

Courses are widely available and include a Level 1 Certificate in Customer Service or a Level 2 Certificate in Contact Centre Operations.

Entry requirements

You may need:

  • 2 or fewer GCSEs at grades 3 to 1 (D to G), or equivalent, for a level 1 course
  • 2 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for a level 2 course
For more information
  • equivalent entry requirements|https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels
  • funding advice|https://www.gov.uk/further-education-courses/financial-help
  • search for courses|/find-a-course
Apprenticeship

You can do a customer service intermediate apprenticeship or a customer service specialist advanced apprenticeship.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
For more information
  • equivalent entry requirements|https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels
  • guide to apprenticeships|https://www.gov.uk/apprenticeships-guide
Direct application

You can apply for jobs if you have customer service experience, for example from working in a shop, hotel or contact centre.

Employers might want you to have:

  • some GCSEs or equal qualifications
  • good communication skills
  • a friendly personality

More information

Professional and industry bodies

You could join The Institute of Customer Service for professional development training.

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Customer service skills transfer across lots of different jobs and industries.

With experience you could:work in other industries like transport, delivery and storage or digital; become a team leader, training officer or customer services manager; move into areas of a business like sales or account handling

You can work as an Optical Assistant within a customer services role with employers like Specsavers

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Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

You'll need:

  • customer service skills
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • the ability to work well with others
  • sensitivity and understanding
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • active listening skills
  • to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
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