How To: Become a Customer Service Agent @ Home

One of the most popular home based job searches is for Customer Service positions.  These jobs can offer some great benefits to someone who wants a steady income with an hourly wage and the ability to work from home.  Many positions offer set hours each week, providing you with a stability that is often difficult to find with home income opportunities.  And alot of these positions are with big-name companies.

What you can expect

When you work from home as a Customer Service Agent, you’ll be dealing with a wide-variety of calls.  You may be taking orders for floral arrangements, or responding to requests for automobile towing, or helping a new customer signup for a membership to a website.

Most customer service jobs require a set schedule.  Usually during business hours, but some jobs may require people to work late-night or overnight shifts.  It can be difficult to find a position that offers full-time work, which is why many home agents end up working for a couple companies part-time each.

Usually these jobs will be paid on an hourly wage, and tend to range from $7.00 – $15.00 / hour.  However, there are some jobs that pay for “talk-time.”  That means that you are only paid for the time spent on the phone with customers, and not for the time waiting for calls.  Make sure to understand the compensation details so there aren’t any surprises.

What you’ll need

In order to be a Customer Service Agent, you’ll need a home-office with a few basics:

Quiet Place to work: Your workspace needs to be free from interruptions, background noise, kids.  Your employer will expect the same level of quality they can achieve from a traditional office setting.  They don’t want their customers to know that you are working from home.

Quality Phone Line: You’ll need a phone line for this work, and probably a dedicated line.  That means a line that isn’t receiving personal calls.  Consider it your work line.  Don’t go super-cheap, but there are ways to save.  A quality VOIP service like Vonage is a good solution.  Most cable companies are offering a quality digital phone line too.

Phone Equipment: You’ll need a good phone and a quality headset.  Its quite likely you’ll be needing to type while on the phone, so a hands-free headset is a must-have.

High Speed Internet: You’ll need to have a high-speed internet connection.  Often you’ll need to be on a secured-website entering the customer’s payment information and other details while on phone calls.  A quality, dedicated internet connection is another must-have.

What they are looking for

Companies that hire for Customer Service Agents are looking for dependability, experience, and professionalism.  If you want one of these jobs, you must be ready to demonstrate your commitment to your new employer.

First, make sure to be available when you are supposed to be.  There are a lot of people who want these jobs, but it isn’t easy for the employers to find people they can consistently depend upon.  If you can be trusted and counted on, you’ll be valuable to your employer.

The interviewer will also be likely looking for people with some customer service experience.  Be sure to take into account your employment history… there are lots of jobs where customer service is a responsibility, and chances are you have lots of background from which you can pull for your application and interview.

Where to look for Customer Service Jobs@Home

At The HIB: We love to come across these job listings because we know how important they are to our readers.  Make sure to view our Customer Service Jobs category for a quick review of these posts.

HomeJobster: The premium home-jobs site has lots of great job leads for customer service agents.  Some of their positions are local, so look for jobs in your town.  Many jobs are available to anyone throughout the country.  Check out the HomeJobster site for fresh, active customer service job listings.

Also do searches on Google and your local Craiglist.org listing for “work at home customer service” or “customer service home agent” or other similar terms.  Just remember, research each position thoroughly.  Be careful to avoid any scams… there are a lot of unscrupulous people ready to take advantage of people looking for home customer service jobs.  You should not have to pay an employer for a job, and make sure you understand the compensation and have the details in writing before you begin work.

A great way to work at home

It may take some time to find the right Customer Service position, but once you do, it can be a great way to earn a good living from home.  Remember, there are always more people looking for these types of positions, so be persistent and patient.  Continue applying for jobs that look like a good fit, and follow through promptly when a company returns your contact.