Interactive Insights

Recruiting Customer Service Representatives

A Deep Dive into Talent Sourcing and Recruitment Advertising Benchmarks

Customer Service Representatives

A Bit About These Talented Professionals

We’ve all had experience dealing with customer service representatives (CSRs)! These wonderful folks – nearly three million of them – work across a plethora of industries, handling complaints, processing orders, and answering questions. One might even call them the unsung heroes of our consumer-driven world… However, due to several shifts, CSR job openings are slated to decline 4% through 2031. Despite this, thanks to occupational drain, we’ll still see a whopping 389,000 openings per year. Surprised? Well, we kinda were too!

Yes, yes. The robots are taking some jobs. And online self-service options are definitely on the rise. But, interestingly, the occupation is shifting in response and finding new and exciting ways to use customer service representatives. Complex queries – sales, service, loyalty, and refunds – will remain with the humans. These high-touch services demand a level of empathy and understanding that AI can’t match (yet) in order to keep those customers singing songs of praise.

So, ready to call more great-fit CSR candidates to your funnel, at the most optimal cost?

It’s time to let Joveo’s data do the talking!

0%
Year-on-year decrease in CPC
0%
Year-on-year increase in unique postings

CPA App-lause or App-loss

CPAsCost per application (CPA) measures the cost incurred by an organization to receive one job application from a potential candidate. depend on CPCs, as well as a bunch of other factors! While you can’t control everything (ain’t that the truth!) you can defo work on perfecting that application process.

At the end of the day, here are a few key factors to consider, including CPA, employer brand, recruiter time and effort, application quality, and candidate experience. While easy apply CPAs are low, recruiters may not get all the info they need and apps from unqualified or low-intention candidates may pour in! On the flip side, a lengthy apply process can result in high applicant drop-off, poor candidate experience, and a high CPA.

Recommendation: Evaluate your process to figure out what your team needs – whether using easy apply, optimized ATS-based apps, or other options, your recruitment strategy should be data-driven. Check out our  job advertising cost calculator to get an idea of what your costs will look like, based on location and app length!

Source: Joveo and TalentNeuron Research

CPC, Ya You Know Me!

Nationally, we are seeing an average CPCCost per click (CPC) is the cost incurred by an organization for each click on a job advertisement or recruitment campaign. of $0.47… but that’s not going to help you plan, is it? Mississippi takes the lead as the most cost-effective, coming in at just $0.15 per click. On the other side of the spectrum, where clicks are the priciest, we find Arizona with a CPC of $1.08.

Recommendation: Make sure you get the most bang for your buck! Leverage this data, understand seasonality and macro trends, and stay nimble. Track and compare performance across states and do a little A/B testingA/B testing refers to a randomized experimentation process. Two or more versions of a variable (job title, job description, etc.) are shown to different segments of users at the same time. The goal is to determine which version leaves the maximum impact and drives conversions. to optimize those CPCs and conversion rates.

Source: Joveo and TalentNeuron Research

Mind Your Demand-Supply Gap… by State

Wondering just how aggressive your sourcing needs to be in a given state? Well, this chart will come in mighty handy, giving insight into the demand-supply gap The demand-supply gap is calculated by dividing the number of unique job postings by total employment in the occupation. The higher the number, the greater the demand-supply gap, compared with the national average., and indicating just how hard you need to push when it comes to talent sourcing or job advertising.

For example, if you’re looking to hire in Ohio, Utah, or Texas, you shouldn’t have a problem. In fact, these four top our list of easiest to fill states when we take a look at demand and supply of CSRs. On the other end of the spectrum, filling your hiring funnel in Hawaii, Alaska, and Wyoming is going to be a challenge, given the low supply and high demand!

Recommendation: If the color of your state is in the deep gold, it may indicate that you need to jazz up your job content, A/B test titles A/B testing refers to a randomized experimentation process. Two or more versions of a variable (web page, job description, etc.) are shown to different segments of users at the same time. The goal is to determine which version leaves the maximum impact and drives conversions., expand across locationsGeographic optimizations expand the targeted location to include surrounding communities. This is an easy way to extend your reach and reduce CPAs by sourcing from less competitive markets., and spend considerably more on recruitment marketing and job advertising to attract those great-fit candidates.

Source: Joveo and TalentNeuron Research

Who Posts the Most?

The competition is heated when it comes to recruiting CSRs! Top employer Walgreens distributed north of 53,000 unique job postings. Other familiar faces rounding out the top companies posting the most include Amazon, FedEx, and Lowe’s.

Recommendation: Be sure to get your posts out to all the right job boards and on social media (don’t miss those passive job seekers!). We’ll admit we are a little biased, but one great way to automatically post jobs across the best-performing sites is to use programmatic job advertising – plus you can take advantage of job title Job title expansion means leveraging alternative job titles, using commonly searched terms. These are published as new listings in addition to the original post. and geographic Geographic optimizations expand the targeted location to include surrounding communities. This is an easy way to extend your reach and reduce CPAs by sourcing from less competitive markets. expansions.

Source: Joveo and TalentNeuron Research

Show Candidates the Money!

The national median advertised salary for customer service reps is approximately $38,500, as of September 2024. Employers advertising salaries higher than this will likely have a competitive advantage when it comes to sourcing!

Recommendation: If you offer a great salary, don’t forget to call it out in your job description, even if your state doesn’t enforce it legally.  This will help you attract more candidates, lower CPCs, fill your funnel faster, and edge out the competition.

Source: Joveo and TalentNeuron Research

An Eye on DE&I: How Do You Measure Up?

Did you know that 67% of today’s candidates take a serious look at potential employers’ DE&I programs? Well, they do. And what they find influences their decision making. And, as we well know, the more diverse your workforce, the better your business outcomes!

Recommendation: What does diversity in the occupation look like in your state? If you find you’re falling a bit short, have no fear! There are a plethora of relevant job boards to give your DE&I program the boost it needs.

Source: Joveo and TalentNeuron Research

How About Those Skills?

Successful recruiting entails making sure your job postings compete with the best and attract the candidates that are right for you. One important piece in the job posting puzzle? Skills. When it comes to recruiting customer service reps, make sure you leave the competition in the dust!

Recommendation: Take note of these commonly sought skills when creating your job descriptions!

Source: Joveo and TalentNeuron Research

Curious about how your own talent sourcing and recruitment advertising efforts compare? Find out what it takes to be best-in-class and leave your competition in the dust.

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