Customer Service Advisor

If you’re self-motivated, organised and need flexible hours, then a job as a cleaner could be perfect for you.

To land a job as a cleaner, your CV will need to show that you can work independently and methodically and have a keen eye for detail. Any cleaning experience or qualifications, such as COSSH, will also look great on your CV.

Whether you're looking to start your cleaner career or looking for a new challenge, our free CV template is tailored to ensure your CV stands out from the crowd.

CV Template

Download

CV Template

Download

CV Template

Download

A guide to writing a Customer Service Advisor CV

FIRST AND SECOND NAME
Home number | Mobile number
Emailaddress@email.com
Home address, Home Street
Home Town
Postcode

Personal Profile

In the personal profile, you should professionally introduce yourself, in three or four sentences, with relation to the job you’re applying to.

Try to include: your current work situation, what type of work you are searching for (such as part-time, flexible hours, or full-time employment starting immediately) some key skills or experience that will show the potential employer that you are a good candidate for the advertised job. So if you have previous administration or customer service experience, which gave you excellent communication skills mention this here. 

EXAMPLE:

I am a highly organised, target-driven individual with a professional telephone manner. I have two years of experience working as a customer service advisor in the education sector, and am looking for a challenging full-time role that will continue to improve my skills.

Work History

The work history section your first chance for you to highlight the skills and experience your current and each previous job has given you, and this is turn should show why you are a good fit for the job you’re applying for. You don’t need to include every last detail about the role, just pick the best parts that highlight  relevant skills mentioned on the job description. You can always write down and save your examples or other relevant skills for the interview.

If possible, include your work history for the last five years. If you haven’t been working for that long, don't worry, this will be explained by the education history. If you have recently moved to the country, it’s okay to include employment in other countries. There is more advice on work and education history in our top tips online article.

  • Job title, name of employer, location, month and year started – present (or month and year that you left)
    • Briefly list the duties you had, and skills you learned while working here. Choose skills or qualities that the employer has listed in their job description.

EXAMPLE:

  • Customer service advisor, University of Southampton, November 2016 – present
    • My responsibilities in this role include answering and dealing with incoming phone calls, providing support for general and residence teams, individual projects and working with colleagues to resolve issues.

What jobs should you include?

  • Any jobs you’ve had in the administrative and secretarial sector will be useful to include here as lots of the skills will overlap and show you’re a good candidate for the role.
  • If you have recently left education, or are new to this type of work, try to include any jobs you’ve had that will highlight the skills the employer is looking for. For example, if you have worked on the reception desk in a school or done work experience which involved dealing with customers, use this to show that you have developed a good telephone manner, great organisation skills and the ability to prioritise your workload.

Education History

In education history, show any relevant training you have completed, what skills you have learned from your courses, as well as general education subjects you’ve passed. As you get more work experience, this section will become shorter, as your work history becomes more relevant and more recent, If you have completed courses or gained certificates in other work-related areas, or first aid, include that information here also. 

Although no formal qualifications are required to be a Customer Service Advisor, employers will expect you to have a good level of English and Maths. Any qualifications such as NVQs in customer service will definitely help your application stand out from the crowd. 

  • Name of course or qualification, name of training centre or education centre, dates you were in attendance or you completed the course
    • Explain briefly the training certificate relevant to the job you are applying to. What did you learn that is relevant to the job?

EXAMPLE:

  • Microsoft Office Plus Diploma, Pittman Training, Southampton, September 2016
    • Covered the key areas of MS packages including word, outlook, excel, powerpoint and access, as well as two elective courses in excel expert and effective business communication.

Skills

Here is your chance to highlight the best skills you have in relation to the job you’re applying for. Hint: these will be the skills listed in the job advert, but only highlight the skills you have. Misleading information on your CV is likely to trip you up in an interview and is unprofessional; you don’t have to show you have every last skill listed in the job advert to be successful.

EXAMPLE:

  • Working in a team – ‘I have learned how to work well in a team, taking on a leadership role where appropriate, in order to complete tasks. I’ve learned the importance of realising individual strengths and how to set deadlines to ensure tasks are complete’.
  • Communication skills – ‘In my current role I have been focusing on improving my communication skills. This includes listening carefully to others, ensuring that all information is passed on correctly and efficiently, and being aware of other people’s situations and backgrounds. 

References

First and last name
Job title and relation to you in the work place (if it isn’t obvious from the job title), name of work place, work contact number (or main company phone number which they can be reached through) and work email address

EXAMPLE:

Sarah Bride
Supervisor at the University of Southampton
0000 0000 00
SarahBride@email.com

Who should you include as a reference?

  • Your first reference should ideally be from a senior colleague or manager who you’ve been working closely with in your most recent role. The second reference can be from a current colleague, or line manager or supervisor from a previous job. It’s best practice to ask someone if they will be a reference for you before they are contacted. Be aware that not all employers actually contact references, but it’s important to have them available if needed
  • It’s important to remember that while you are in your current job, consider that you may not want your reference (eg. your current boss) to be contacted until you have had an interview for a new possible job, or are actually offered it. This is because, for instance, if you weren’t offered the new job, and end up staying in your current job then you might not want your manager having been contacted as a reference. It can cause tension or awkward conversations about why you were trying to leave. A good way to get around this is to simply write ‘References available on request’. This shows the new employer that they can ask you for them as needed, but also means you can ask them to only contact them if you are offered the job, and then have time to ask the reference if it’s okay for them to be contacted. Most potential employers will be happy to wait to do this after offering you the job
  • If you have only had one previous job, or have been studying, it is okay to include a tutor as a reference, or someone else as a character reference (who is not related to you)