One of the most popular entry-level positions, a call center job can make a great part-time gig or even a launching pad into the fields of marketing and customer service. And the best part? To get started, you don’t need much more than a handful of interpersonal skills you likely already possess. A stand-out call center cover letter is also essential for making hiring managers aware of these and other strengths you bring to bear.
Resume.io is the place to find advice for writing a cover letter that proves you’ve got what it takes to land the job you want. Our resources include more than 175 occupation-specific writing guides with corresponding cover letter examples.
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We noted in the first paragraph that call center positions make great entry-level work because they rely on many of the skills you likely already possess. Unfortunately, this also makes call center and customer service jobs highly competitive.
That’s where a strong cover letter comes in. It's all about maximizing your chances of landing the position by giving you the space to express what makes you a uniquely qualified candidate. This is the place to show off your personality, goals and related skills as well as answer any questions that may arise from your resume like gaps in employment history.
The customer service industry is changing. The days of 100 call center agents wearing headsets all crammed into adjacent cubicles are fading. According to Liveops, more than 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies are using or planning to use home-based call center agents. Time to tidy up the home office!
Large companies have long been known to outsource call center jobs to the Philippines and other countries. For Americans, however, some of those jobs may be coming back. According to CNN Business, companies are now looking to train “super agents” who can handle a variety of requests that go beyond answering basic questions.
The purpose of a resume is often quite clear: convey your education and experience in a succinct format. When it comes to writing a cover letter, however, it’s worth taking a moment to define your objective. A lot of job seekers believe that a cover letter is a formality to get out of the way before submitting the application. However, when crafted with care, your cover letter can often become a deciding factor in landing you a job interview.
Here are the basics: a cover letter is a one-page document (around 400 words) that convinces a hiring manager to give you a shot by briefly explaining your most relevant experiences and skills. Instead of replicating your resume content, your cover letter should expand upon it and offer new information that creates a personal connection with the hiring manager.
What if the call center job application doesn't require a cover letter?
Sometimes an online application makes a cover letter as “optional” or fails to mention the document at all. Many job seekers see this as an opportunity to submit only a resume with their application. Their loss, your advantage.
As discussed later on, a cover letter is one of the best opportunities to highlight your strengths and make yourself stand out in a crowded application pool. Unless specifically asked not to include a cover letter, it’s always a smart idea to write and send one. This small amount of extra effort can pay off big time when a hiring manager notices your interest and attention to detail.
In addition to clear writing, your cover letter design and formatting plays an important role in making a great first impression. You should stick to a single, professional font in an easily readable size and make sure to keep a balance of white space to text.
Since call center jobs require a positive demeanor and friendly tone, your cover letter is also one of the best places to convey your communication skills. The writing of your cover letter should be a sample of the qualities you will convey to the company’s precious clientele: upbeat, helpful and confident. Your cover letter should leave a hiring manager with the impression that you understand the company’s needs and are ready to fill the role.
Tailoring your cover letter for success
Before submitting your cover letter, there’s one final step that’s extremely important in making sure your document is a cut above the rest. Your cover letter should be customized with the right skills, experiences and qualities for each position and company you apply to.
When applying to multiple jobs at once, there’s nothing wrong with creating a base cover letter that can be modified for each application. However, hiring managers reading your application should have the impression it was crafted especially for them. That means attention is paid to your most relevant experiences and qualities that meet each company’s specific goals.
Imagine two candidates apply for an entry-level call center position. Both are recent graduates with retail customer service experience on their resumes. Both submit a cover letter.
Candidate A submits a generic letter with a formal introduction and little mention of his unique qualifications. Candidate B takes the time to expand upon her college experience and explain how it taught her to treat each customer with care. She says she hopes to bring her advanced troubleshooting skills to the call center position.
With all other factors being equal, the time Candidate B invested into a customized cover letter is likely to give her the advantage when it comes to landing the job interview and eventually the position – a great cover letter makes all the difference!
In this section, we’ll break down the steps of great cover letter writing into an easy-to-follow checklist. This structure doesn’t change much between job titles or companies, so you can follow these steps for future positions as well.
Here are the key components:
The next section of this guide will discuss ways to maximize the effectiveness of each cover letter section.
But first, here is an adaptable call center cover letter letter example to serve as a foundation for your own version.
Dear Ms. Braithwaite,
Having worked in retail call centers for five years, I understand what your customers require. Customer care starts when they buy a product, and then those who are well-served will purchase again and again.
In my last role, 97.6% of my customers hung up “satisfied” with my service. By managing to memorize 50+ call scripts, I reduced my time per call by 18%, while increasing customer satisfaction by 29%. I had recognized early on that when you rely on reading from a screen, it doesn’t sound natural; customers can easily sense that you are not listening to them.
Having worked in retail customer service for five years, I’m used to learning everything I can about the product ranges so that I can be as knowledgeable as possible.
My main tasks included processing customer complaints, handling returns, processing refunds and updating accounts. I type at 70 words per minute, and during my employment at two different call centers, my data entry accuracy ranged from 98.7% to 99.5%.
I understand that the performance of call center agents is measured by activity, so here are more numbers:
I am a considerate communicator, who always listens fully to work out every customer issue. My response is succinct and prompt when I understand the required solution. Customers want their issues sorted as quickly as possible, so speed is always of the essence. However, comprehensiveness should never be sacrificed. My colleagues voted me “best communicator in the office” last year — reflecting the equal importance I place on communicating work issues internally.
I would welcome an interview to find out more about your operation and outline how I go about my work.
Sincerely,
Arnold Foley
Your cover letter header is the likely the first thing a hiring manager will notice as they begin to read your cover letter. That’s why this section serves two important roles. The first is to identify your document with your name and contact information. This is especially important when a recruiter may be hiring for multiple call center jobs at once.
The second purpose of your cover letter is to create attractive formatting that will make your document stand out from the rest. Make sure to choose a style that aligns with the company branding. For a call center position, simple and clean formatting is likely best.
The goal of this section: Label your document with the necessary contact information and personal data, create eye-catching formatting that’s professional and tasteful.
Align document styles!
If you want to take your application to the next level, aligning the document styles of your cover letter and resume is one of the best ways to make your application stand out. A matching header and color scheme will show that you’re an organized and serious candidate who invested extra effort into your application.
Luckily, this task isn’t too difficult to accomplish. With Resume.io’s collection of resume and templates and corresponding cover letter examples and templates, you can choose the style that suits you best, then customize the colors and font for the needs of the application. For call center jobs, a simple cover letter template can go a long way in proving your professionalism!
The goal of this section: Label your document with the necessary contact information and personal data, create eye-catching formatting that’s professional and tasteful.
Your cover letter greeting is a short section with an important job to do: create a polite and friendly tone for the rest of your letter and establish a personal connection by using the letter recipient’s name. “Dear” followed by the correct salutation and last name of the hiring manager is one of the most standard and effective greetings.
The importance of names and addressed greetings
There’s a reason why call center agents often ask whom they're speaking with at the beginning of each call — using a customer’s name throughout the call makes them feel valued and well cared for. Personalized attention can work in many other circumstances, including in your cover letter greeting. By using the name of the letter recipient on your cover letter, you quickly establish your interest in the company and create a personal connection with the hiring manager.
However, in large companies it’s not always possible to find the name of one hiring manager, let alone be sure that’s the one who will be reading your application. This is especially true for call center positions where hiring is likely taken care of by an entire HR team. If this is the case, don’t worry — you’ve got options. Try using a collective noun instead. “Dear (Company Name) Hiring Team” often works well.
The goal of this section: Establish a friendly tone and create rapport with the hiring manager by addressing them by name in your cover letter greeting.
Here’s the greeting from our call center cover letter sample.
June 2, 2022
Dear Ms. Braithwaite,
If there was ever a time to make a statement, your cover letter introduction is the place to do it. That doesn’t mean you should go overboard with eccentric stories, but rather create a professional and charismatic opening line that makes you stand out from the pile of generic applications. The best way to craft a great introduction is by offering an interesting anecdote, relevant statistic or your top skill. Make sure to carefully weave in the name of the position you are applying to in the first one or two sentences of your cover letter.
The goal of this section: Catch the hiring manager’s attention with an interesting fact or anecdote and encourage them to keep reading into the body of your cover letter
Below is a call center cover letter example of an effective introduction.
Having worked in retail call centers for five years, I understand what your customers require. Customer care starts when they buy a product, and then those who are well-served will purchase again and again.
The middle part of your call center cover letter will make up the bulk of the document. This is the section to dive into all your relevant experience and the reasons why you believe you’re the company’s next great call center agent. The STAR method can help make the body section easier to write. First, describe a situation and the task required, then explain the action you took and the positive result it caused. This is a great place to describe previous customer service interactions that have led to sales or other achievements.
You can create a second body paragraph to mention your top skills and potential contributions to the hiring organization as a call center agent. For this section, you’ll want to make sure your tone is confident without sounding presumptuous.
The goal of this section: Use the STAR method to list previous experiences and the positive results you achieved, make sure to offer potential contributions and your most refined skills.
Our call center cover letter example illustrates what you might include in the middle part.
In my last role, 97.6% of my customers hung up “satisfied” with my service. By managing to memorize 50+ call scripts, I reduced my time per call by 18%, while increasing customer satisfaction by 29%. I had recognized early on that when you rely on reading from a screen, it doesn’t sound natural; customers can easily sense that you are not listening to them.
Having worked in retail customer service for five years, I’m used to learning everything I can about the product ranges so that I can be as knowledgeable as possible.
My main tasks included processing customer complaints, handling returns, processing refunds and updating accounts. I type at 70 words per minute, and during my employment at two different call centers, my data entry accuracy ranged from 98.7% to 99.5%.
I understand that the performance of call center agents is measured by activity, so here are more numbers:
I am a considerate communicator, who always listens fully to work out every customer issue. My response is succinct and prompt when I understand the required solution. Customers want their issues sorted as quickly as possible, so speed is always of the essence. However, comprehensiveness should never be sacrificed. My colleagues voted me “best communicator in the office” last year — reflecting the equal importance I place on communicating work issues internally.
There is an art to creating the perfect cover letter conclusion, and it all starts with a compelling call to action. This sentence expresses genuine interest in the position and invites a hiring manager to contact you to discuss further. You may also choose to leave your contact information again in this section.
Finish your letter with a polite and professional sign-off, followed by your signature. “Best regards,” “Sincerely” or “Thank you” can all make good options.
The goal of this section: Create an effective call to action that encourages a hiring manager to get in touch, use the appropriate signature to finish your letter on a positive note.
Below is the closing section of our sample call center cover letter.
I would welcome an interview to find out more about your operation and outline how I go about my work.
Sincerely,
Arnold Foley
Here are a few key qualities you’ll want to convey when applying to a call center position:
You’ve probably heard the adage before: It’s not what you say but how you say it. That’s especially true in any call center position. Of course, what you say is important, but your tone of voice, patience and attitude can make all the difference in how your message is received.
Turns out, the same goes for your cover letter. According to the Yale Attitude Change Approach, a multi-year study in the mid-1900s, an audience doesn’t just pay attention to the content of the speaker’s message, but also everything about how they deliver it.
For your cover letter, that means a hiring manager is not only evaluating your writing but also your visual presentation. Is it clean? Does it fit the company branding? Is it aligned across all the application materials?
An audience is more likely to be convinced of a message when they believe the speaker is credible, i.e they know what they’re talking about. Your visual presentation is one of the best ways of showing that you understand the company’s goals and you are ready to rise to the challenge. Combined with the right tone and concrete experiences, you’ll quickly find yourself at the top of the list when it’s time to schedule job interviews!
Call center agents are in demand
According to a survey by eConsultancy, phone calls are still the top choice for customers when it comes time to reach a customer service representative — call centers aren’t going away any time soon!
Make sure your cover letter impresses for favorable reasons. Avoid these common mistakes often made by candidates applying to call center positions.
A call center job is a great choice even for candidates with no experience, because it can open numerous doors to jobs requiring some of the same skills. For inspiration, check out these writing guides and examples in the administrative category: