ICT help desk agent to customer contact centre information clerk
An ICT help desk agent already meets 30% of what the customer contact centre information clerk role asks for. The move turns on 9 required skills not yet in the profile.
67/ 100
1 How much of what a customer contact centre information clerk is expected to do is already part of an ICT help desk agent’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the customer contact centre information clerk role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A customer contact centre information clerk role treats 5 of its required skills as things an ICT help desk agent already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- answer incoming calls
- characteristics of products
- characteristics of services
- communicate with customers
- guarantee customer satisfaction
What stands in the way is 9 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 8 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A customer contact centre information clerk role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an ICT help desk agent background worth leading with.
- already held handle helpdesk problems communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held answer incoming calls assisting and caring
- already held knowledge base information and communication technologies (icts)
- already held assist customers assisting and caring
- already held characteristics of services business, administration and law
- already held characteristics of products engineering, manufacturing and construction
All 8 carried skills, including the 5 the customer contact centre information clerk role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 24 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn communicate by telephone required
- still to learn establish customer rapport required
- still to learn provide customer follow-up required
- optional, not held carry out active selling optional
- optional, not held contact customers optional
- optional, not held discern written communication optional
- optional, not held improve customer interaction optional
- optional, not held provide customers with price information optional
- optional, not held draft corporate emails optional
- still to learn collect customer data required
- still to learn keep records of customer interaction required
- optional, not held analyse call performance trends optional
- optional, not held measure customer feedback optional
- still to learn customer insight required
- still to learn customer service required
- optional, not held customer relationship management optional
- still to learn perform customer management required
- optional, not held follow up orders for customers optional
- optional, not held notify customers on special offers optional
- optional, not held provide customers with order information optional
- still to learn use databases required
- optional, not held prepare correspondence for customers optional
- optional, not held process payments optional
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a customer contact centre information clerk role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 collect customer data practise this
- 02 customer insight study this
- 03 customer service study this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 8 skills that carry over
- already held answer incoming calls skill
- already held characteristics of products knowledge
- already held characteristics of services knowledge
- already held communicate with customers skill
- already held guarantee customer satisfaction skill
- already held assist customers skill
- already held handle helpdesk problems skill
- already held knowledge base knowledge
The 1 learning area not shown above
- optional, not held call-centre technologies optional
15 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held carry out active selling optional
- optional, not held contact customers optional
- optional, not held discern written communication optional
- optional, not held follow up orders for customers optional
- optional, not held improve customer interaction optional
- optional, not held notify customers on special offers optional
- optional, not held provide customers with order information optional
- optional, not held provide customers with price information optional
- optional, not held analyse call performance trends optional
- optional, not held call-centre technologies optional
- optional, not held customer relationship management optional
- optional, not held draft corporate emails optional
- optional, not held measure customer feedback optional
- optional, not held prepare correspondence for customers optional
- optional, not held process payments optional
24 held skills the customer contact centre information clerk role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role ICT help platforms knowledge
- not needed by the target role ICT infrastructure knowledge
- not needed by the target role ICT system user requirements knowledge
- not needed by the target role create solutions to problems skill
- not needed by the target role educate on data confidentiality skill
- not needed by the target role identify customer's needs skill
- not needed by the target role implement a virtual private network skill
- not needed by the target role implement anti-virus software skill
- not needed by the target role information confidentiality knowledge
- not needed by the target role keep task records skill
- not needed by the target role keep up to date on product knowledge skill
- not needed by the target role manage schedule of tasks skill
- not needed by the target role perform data analysis skill
- not needed by the target role perform escalation procedure skill
- not needed by the target role prioritise requests skill
- not needed by the target role product comprehension knowledge
- not needed by the target role provide ICT support skill
- not needed by the target role provide customer follow-up services skill
- not needed by the target role solve ICT system problems skill
- not needed by the target role support ICT system users skill
- not needed by the target role use ICT hardware skill
- not needed by the target role use ICT ticketing system skill
- not needed by the target role use customer relationship management software skill
- not needed by the target role use e-services skill
4 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn customer insight required
- still to learn customer service required
- optional, not held call-centre technologies optional
- optional, not held customer relationship management optional
Other moves recorded from ICT help desk agent
- ICT help desk manager 58% covered · moderate
- call centre agent 41% covered · substantial
- live chat operator 38% covered · substantial
- after-sales service technician 36% covered · substantial
- customer service representative 31% covered · substantial
- technical sales representative in office machinery and equipment 28% covered · career change
- technical sales representative in chemical products 28% covered · career change
- technical sales representative in agricultural machinery and equipment 28% covered · career change
Common questions about this move
Can an ICT help desk agent become a customer contact centre information clerk?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. An ICT help desk agent already covers 30% of what a customer contact centre information clerk is expected to do: 8 skills carry over, 5 of which the customer contact centre information clerk role treats as required.
What skills does an ICT help desk agent need to become a customer contact centre information clerk?
9 required skills are missing, plus 15 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is collect customer data.
How hard is the move from ICT help desk agent to customer contact centre information clerk?
Its learning distance is 67 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.