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Original poster

Higher paid Customer Service Jobs

45 replies

PreparationPreparationPrep · 22/09/2021 11:46

Just trying to get some advice for a young man in his late 20's. In how to earn more money in Customer Service role without managing people.
Young man is in a customer service role and is very good at it because of his personality and nature etc. He takes a little time to learn the IT that goes with each company etc but can do it. Just needs a bit longer to get to grips with different IT platforms. Has always got on well with people and this warms others to him. He has tried other roles and hasn't enjoyed it hated sales and found some areas difficult like Insurance/ Accounts and now trying to learn IT cyber but not getting to grips with it after 1
Year. My view is customer service is his strong point - he doesn't want to
Manage people but really wants and needs to earn more than he is now £22k and living in London. He loves watching football (not playing) and knows anything and everything about teams / history players etc - follows their progress etc - Is there a professional role that would link his knowledge of football/ great personality and customer service skills. That also pays well or has a career path. He did go to Uni and struggled through so his degree classification did not lead to internships or anything like that - now we know why but he didn't get support at the time.
So MN .... any suggestions please ?

OP posts:

NotMyCat · 22/09/2021 11:49

I work in customer service for a car dealership, in aftersales which isn't bad pay
Basic is low at 18k however you earn commission for well, doing your job which is uncapped and so I take home up to an extra £1000 per month bonus

GivenUpEntirely · 22/09/2021 12:07

Higher pay customer service jobs tend to be sales or debt recovery. Basically, the jobs that chase the money get more money.

I know football clubs have sales teams for the hospitality boxes so registering with each of the top teams career pages could be worthwhile if it appeals to your son.

Otherwise, with no desire to manage others there's limited progression in just customer service unless he can find an interest in process design or similar where he's helping to drive how the customer service works for a company.

Original poster

PreparationPreparationPrep · 23/09/2021 00:01

Thanks for that - I don't think he will risk going back on £18k even with commission. He felt disheartened-working in Sales - I might suggest he looks into process design
Even though I don't quite know exact what it is, and also the football team
Careers sounds promising.

OP posts:

LukeEvansWife · 23/09/2021 00:06

Does he have initiative? I am only asking as he needs to get out there himself and look for something suitable (I presume he is your son?).

Perhaps he could contact football clubs and see what sort of thing they do

Bythehairywartsonmywitchychin · 23/09/2021 00:10

Get him to do the skills assessment on the national careers service website, it will advise him of jobs he could do.

genericuserneeded · 23/09/2021 00:15

Universal credit work coach is like £31k a year, basically glorified call centre/customer service role

genericuserneeded · 23/09/2021 00:19

@LukeEvansWife

Does he have initiative? I am only asking as he needs to get out there himself and look for something suitable (I presume he is your son?).

Perhaps he could contact football clubs and see what sort of thing they do

Sorry but I agree with this. He’s late 20s so not not really “young”. He doesn’t sound he has ambition/drive at the moment. You can’t do all the work for him, it’s pointless if he doesn’t want to put the effort in to apply to get further training

Why doesn’t he want to take the team leader route? Surely after a decade of working in these roles, he would have good transferable skills to work towards a leadership role

PostItNow · 23/09/2021 10:51

I think he is going to struggle to get a well paid career - he won't do sales, manage people and struggles to get to grips with software packages and needs you to find him a career, so can't research either. If I were him I'd consider moving to a cheaper city, if that were possible.

Hoppinggreen · 23/09/2021 11:21

If he won’t manage or take a position where he can earn commission I am not sure how he will ever earn more money

DeviousLatte · 23/09/2021 11:21

Has he looked into sales/business development rep roles in IT? They tend to pay pretty well compared to minimum wage. It's not customer service but transferable skills I would think.

LukeEvansWife · 23/09/2021 12:08

@PostItNow

This. The kind of jobs he wants would require initiative, perhaps he needs to look at a different path.

Don't know the solution re the IT packages - if he isn't very computer savvy, then again, he needs to cut his coat according to his cloth, as they say.

NotMyCat · 23/09/2021 12:45

Definitely be open minded regarding bonus/commission
It's hard to explain but basically I take inbound calls so people ring me to make a booking
I get commission on those bookings. So you effectively can't not get commission!

ChequerBoard · 23/09/2021 12:59

What about an IT support role? Essentially it is the same as a basic customer service role, taking calls logging the issue and passing it on to the correct tech team or service to sort it out. Could Road to other opportunities in time and better paid than basic call centre roles mostly.

LukeEvansWife · 23/09/2021 13:01

@ChequerBoard

Not if he isn't good at IT!

ChequerBoard · 23/09/2021 13:05

@LukeEvansWife if he can Leanne to use a customer service case management system then he can learn to use an IT call logging system - there's isn't much difference.

In basic IT support he won't be fixing issues other than asking if it's switched on- I'm sure he can manage that.

TractorAndHeadphones · 23/09/2021 13:18

@ChequerBoard

Competition for IT support jobs is intense with self-taught people using it as a springboard to proper IT roles. If he takes too long to get to grips with software he’s unlikely to succeed.

What about IT service management? Or project management? All of these are managing your stakeholders, but you don’t manage anybody under you. Just communicate between people who know what they’re doing.

LukeEvansWife · 23/09/2021 14:09

[quote ChequerBoard]@LukeEvansWife if he can Leanne to use a customer service case management system then he can learn to use an IT call logging system - there's isn't much difference.

In basic IT support he won't be fixing issues other than asking if it's switched on- I'm sure he can manage that.[/quote]
But his mother OP said he struggles to get to grips with any of the IT systems and that he has tried training and it hasn't gone great.

So with all the competition, being nice but not being able to work the system isn't going to be great.

LukeEvansWife · 23/09/2021 14:10

OP Has he tried googling and doing some research?

Original poster

PreparationPreparationPrep · 24/09/2021 00:20

Thanks yes - he can get jobs himself - I have never had to help him job search - my interest is more to help him find a way to progress and not go round in circles. problem is the jobs he gets offered quite easily are always customer service. Because of previous roles and he comes across well in interviews. He has worked in sales But wasn't very good at it so commission based won't work for him. With IT he has used several packages over the years and he does learn but it will Probably take him longer than the next person. For example if probation is 6 Months he may need an extra month to really understand the role. So far all his previous roles have allowed him the extra time. So an IT help desk role would probably be good because he may get to see and learn at his pace about a different role without actually doing it - if you see what I mean. He finds admin type organisation a bit confusing hence why probation has been extended by one month for his previous roles - so for a role with a high level of admin he would have to start slowly and gradually build up to make sure he has understood the full role. the current job is the first role where probation was not extended. So he does get there - it just takes him longer than most people. Any roles which are heavy admin duties which team leader tends to be would not work for him. The actually managing people part he would be great because of his personality. He would suit for example sports blogger / journalist but he wouldn't get an interview because of his degree classification. A few years ago after leaving Uni and for a few months he wrote football articles for a new startup website / mag. They liked and kept accepting his work but not enough to give him a contract. So In The end he gave up. I will look suggest IT help desk and maybe UC work coach - and see. Thank you

OP posts:

Original poster

PreparationPreparationPrep · 24/09/2021 01:26

Also I meant it was the Cyber Security training he was struggling with- he paid for an expensive online course which after the third module he is now struggling with.

He has used lots of different industry specific databases as well as CRMs etc over the years so that's not an issue but as I said he may need an extra month on probation.

OP posts:

ClaryFairchild · 24/09/2021 02:45

Honestly? If he's presentable, chatty, nice personality, then he should start a YouTube channel on something football related as a side hustle. If he proves to be good at it the earnings on these can become quite lucrative and can become a full time job. My DSs watch loads of these type of things. Some are better than others. My older DD likes to research how much these YouTubers earn and even average ones can earn a decent amount. (Has tried it persuade me to let me start one himself!!!)

MiddleParking · 24/09/2021 06:17

There will be lots of using constantly changing IT platforms and lots of administrative work involved in being a sports blogger or journalist. I’m not sure that does sound like a good fit at all and that’s before factoring in how absolutely oversaturated that market is. Tbh, I’d be looking hard at whether there are any behaviours that are driving the need for an extra month’s probation time after the first six months - that seems like quite a specific problem.

Original poster

PreparationPreparationPrep · 24/09/2021 06:34

@MiddleParking
Yes there are but it is something he is slowly beginning to accept, and wants to manage his way. I am guessing this but For example this job I think he spent time outside the working day getting to understand the role. So he knows in future this works for him in keeping within his probation target. He also works for a great company and amongst a very friendly group so that helps too.
@ClaryFairchild - that's a good idea !

OP posts:

PostItNow · 24/09/2021 07:09

If he can write, surely they will be more interested in seeing an example of his work than focusing on the degree he got at Uni. Doing his own blogs and you tubing are great ideas to at least build a portfolio. What about a trade?

LukeEvansWife · 24/09/2021 09:52

Needing an extra month on probation is a big deal for a lot of places. That's why they have probation. They may not extend it so that he can get to grips with the system. If the issue is the IT, the problem is that someone will have to be actively helping him all the time (or at least around to help him) and it's potentially very time consuming for that person.

It sounds like he wants a very specific type of job. In the nicest possible way he needs to take that initiative and find it himself.

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