How to List Phone Skills on a Resume: Best Skills and Examples

Phone Skills | Best Skills & Examples

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Many jobs today require excellent phone skills, from sales roles to receptionists. The key to showing employers that you are the best candidate for the job may be to highlight your phone skills in your resume. Learn about what skills to include and how to include them with examples to guide you.

Why do employers want to see phone skills on your resume?

Employers want to see phone skills on a resume because they want to make sure you can communicate effectively over the phone and use complicated operating systems skillfully. Most jobs require some phone usage, whether answering calls in the front office, making cold calls for sales or simply joining in on company meetings.

What to include in a phone skills resume

When creating your phone skills resume, you should include the following details:

  • Specific technical skills related to using the phone and phone systems
  • Soft skills you use to communicate with customers and callers
  • Any phone or call center software you have experience using
  • Your job responsibilities associated with phone usage
  • Quantifiable details regarding your phone skills

You can incorporate these types of phone skills in the experience listed on your resume. To be considered for a specific role, you should also read through the job posting and then include those relevant skills if you have them.

How to demonstrate phone skills on your resume

Use these steps to properly include phone skills on your resume:

1. Firstly, mention the most notable phone skills in your resume introduction

Your introduction is the first paragraph a hiring manager will likely read when reviewing your resume. Whether you choose to use a summary, objective statement, professional profile, or qualifications summary, you should mention at least one noteworthy phone skill so the reader can understand your expertise.

2. Secondly, include detailed examples of your phone expertise in your work experience

Your work experience section allows you to elaborate more on your phone experience. Under each past job, describe responsibilities you held related to using the phone and communicating with callers. This is also the space to include quantifiable data about your phone skills, such as customer satisfaction ratings as a customer representative, impressive sales closing numbers, or the number of handled and resolved customer complaints. Information presented in numbers communicates success to hiring managers.

3. Thirdly, note your technical and soft phone-related talents in your skills section

Phone skills include technical capabilities to use complex software and multi-line phones and soft communication and interpersonal skills, such as active listening and compassion. List these in the skills section of your resume to emphasize them to the hiring manager.

Examples of phone skills to include on your resume

Common phone-related skills to list in your resume include:

Communication skills

The ability to communicate clearly is one of the most important and required skills for a role that uses the phone often. For customer support and sales jobs, where primary communication is done over the phone, successful communication is needed to yield beneficial results for the business. Other jobs may require employees to field emergency calls, manage customer conflicts or take hundreds of phone calls a day, making exceptional communication necessary. Communication skills include active listening, asking questions for clarification and interpersonal skills like empathy and patience.

Technical skills

Knowing how to properly use phone equipment is another commonly-required skill. Some jobs may require employees to operate complex phone systems like PABX systems and operator boards. Other roles may entail advanced knowledge of specialty call center software.

Customer service skills

Many jobs that require heavy phone usage are customer-service related. Customer service skills include maintaining a friendly and helpful demeanor, dictating clearly, answering calls promptly, and resolving conflicts. For individuals who do most of their work over the phone, they need to be skilled at making outbound telemarketing calls, getting high customer service ratings, and closing sales.

Foreign languages

Many employers want to hire bilingual individuals because of the increasing population of non-English speakers. If you fluently speak another language, make sure to add this to your resume under skills or education.

How to improve your phone skills

Here are a few ways you can improve your current phone skills:

1. Firstly, build up your active listening abilities

The first step toward improving your phone skills is to be a better active listener.

Examples of active listening abilities:

  • Staying as focused as possible. Try to remain undistracted from your surrounding environment and concentrate on the call.
  • Wait for a significant pause before responding. You will listen more effectively when you allow the caller to finish their sentence before taking your turn.
  • Ask questions to gain clarity. If you are unsure of a caller’s needs, ask questions to make sure you find the best solution for them.
  • Recap key points to ensure you understood them correctly. Summarizing the most essential details also shows the caller you are listening to them.

2. Then, enhance your responding skills

You can also improve how you respond to callers.

Examples of being responsive:

  • Project a positive and natural-sounding tone. This helps a caller feel comfortable and respected. Try smiling to help you maintain a happier, attentive tone.
  • Pay attention to your rate of speech. Make sure to speak at a moderate pace so the caller can clearly understand you.
  • Enunciate clearly. Use simple words and phrases when possible, and keep your tone professional. Practice speaking using a pause instead of filler words such as ‘um’ or ‘like.’

3. Finally, learn the technology

Know how to properly operate the phone equipment and software you will use. Spend downtime practicing common functions and familiarizing yourself with the basics. Spending more time learning the technology will reduce missed calls, wrong transfers, and other avoidable technical issues.

Phone skills resume example

Use this resume example to better understand how you can emphasize phone skills on your own resume.

Brett Mitchell
602 Wirth Blvd.
Albuquerque, NM 12345
555-555-5555
bmitchell@email.com

Summary

Self-motivated and service-oriented call center representative with substantial experience in over-the-phone troubleshooting and customer conflict resolution. Attentive to details in all professional matters and highly skilled in telemarketing. Advanced in call center software and complex PABX systems.

Skills

  • Typing 70 WPM
  • Microsoft Office
  • Multiline phone operation
  • Zendesk software
  • Interpersonal communication
  • Professional dictation and demeanor
  • Conflict resolution
  • Organization
  • Active listening
  • Critical thinking
  • Multitasking

Work Experience

Customer Service Phone Representative
Energize Nutrition, Inc.
Albuquerque, NM
2015 – 2017

  • Assess customer needs quickly and provide solutions proactively
  • Accurately and thoroughly document customer interaction details into the system during calls
  • Manage inbound calls for order placement and product inquiry with exceptional customer service

Phone Representative
Advantage Marketing Agency
Austin, TX
2013 – 2015

  • Maintained a high-volume workload with short deadlines
  • Assisted an average of 150 clients each week, consistently meeting performance goals
  • Analyzed reports to discover weaknesses and implement department improvements
  • Directed customers by telephone and email to correct departments
  • Maintained a professional and polite telephone manner
  • Continuously achieved high ratings on my team for low call time and customer satisfaction

Front Desk Representative
Lakeland Hospital
Austin, TX
2012 – 2013

  • Directed calls to the most appropriate department based on the caller’s needs
  • Booked appointments for patients and called for confirmations
  • Created order forms for the lab
  • Routed nurses’ and doctors’ messages for patients
  • Translated Spanish for patients, nurses, and other medical staff
  • Handled and translated Spanish phone calls

Education

Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration
Minor in Spanish
The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

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