Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Rental service representative to customer service representative

A rental service representative already meets 36% of what the customer service representative role asks for. The move turns on 15 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From rental service representative
36 % overlap
Distant match
To customer service representative
13 You already bring
15 Still to learn
39 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

67.7/ 100

1 How much of what a customer service representative is expected to do is already part of a rental service representative’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 service representative role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A customer service representative role treats 9 of its required skills as things a rental service representative already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • communicate with customers
  • create solutions to problems
  • guarantee customer satisfaction
  • have computer literacy
  • identify customer's needs
  • listen actively

What stands in the way is 15 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 13 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A customer service representative role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a rental service representative background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held facilitate official agreement communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held show diplomacy communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held use customer relationship management software working with computers
  • already held process data information skills
  • already held perform multiple tasks at the same time management skills
  • already held provide customer follow-up services assisting and caring

All 13 carried skills, including the 9 the customer service representative role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 26 missing skills fall into 8 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.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 communication, collaboration and creativity 5 required, 3 supplementary
  • still to learn implement customer follow-up required
  • still to learn apply conflict management required
  • still to learn apply knowledge of human behaviour required
  • still to learn ensure client orientation required
  • still to learn perform escalation procedure required
  • optional, not held carry out active selling optional
  • optional, not held contact customers optional
  • optional, not held upsell products optional
02 information skills 4 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn determine charges for customer services required
  • still to learn process order forms with customer's information required
  • still to learn control of expenses required
  • still to learn keep records of customer interaction required
  • optional, not held measure customer feedback optional
03 management skills 3 required
  • still to learn process refunds required
  • still to learn manage schedule of tasks required
  • still to learn process customer orders required
04 business, administration and law 1 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn customer service required
  • optional, not held sales activities optional
  • optional, not held relationship marketing optional
05 information and communication technologies (icts) 1 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn knowledge base required
  • optional, not held e-commerce systems optional
  • optional, not held data mining methods optional
06 assisting and caring 1 required
  • still to learn provide information required

2 further areas in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a customer service representative role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 13 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held communicate with customers skill
  • already held create solutions to problems skill
  • already held guarantee customer satisfaction skill
  • already held have computer literacy skill
  • already held identify customer's needs skill
  • already held listen actively skill
  • already held perform multiple tasks at the same time skill
  • already held process data skill
  • already held provide customer follow-up services skill
  • already held facilitate official agreement skill
  • already held show diplomacy skill
  • already held speak different languages skill
  • already held use customer relationship management software skill
The 2 learning areas not shown above
Skill to pick up Tier
07 working with computers 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held perform data analysis optional
  • optional, not held use e-services optional
08 services 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held consumer protection optional
11 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held carry out active selling optional
  • optional, not held contact customers optional
  • optional, not held e-commerce systems optional
  • optional, not held sales activities optional
  • optional, not held consumer protection optional
  • optional, not held data mining methods optional
  • optional, not held measure customer feedback optional
  • optional, not held perform data analysis optional
  • optional, not held relationship marketing optional
  • optional, not held upsell products optional
  • optional, not held use e-services optional
30 held skills the customer service representative role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role achieve sales targets skill
  • not needed by the target role agricultural equipment knowledge
  • not needed by the target role apply numeracy skills skill
  • not needed by the target role assist customers skill
  • not needed by the target role build rapport with people from different cultural backgrounds skill
  • not needed by the target role communicate by telephone skill
  • not needed by the target role company policies knowledge
  • not needed by the target role contract law knowledge
  • not needed by the target role credit card payments knowledge
  • not needed by the target role financial capability knowledge
  • not needed by the target role handle financial transactions skill
  • not needed by the target role handle rental overdues skill
  • not needed by the target role industrial tools knowledge
  • not needed by the target role machinery products knowledge
  • not needed by the target role maintain inventory of rented items skill
  • not needed by the target role manage claims process skill
  • not needed by the target role manage contracts skill
  • not needed by the target role manage theft prevention skill
  • not needed by the target role mining, construction and civil engineering machinery products knowledge
  • not needed by the target role office equipment knowledge
  • not needed by the target role operate cash register skill
  • not needed by the target role process payments skill
  • not needed by the target role product comprehension knowledge
  • not needed by the target role provide customers with price information skill
  • not needed by the target role record customers' personal data skill
  • not needed by the target role review completed contracts skill
  • not needed by the target role types of aircraft knowledge
  • not needed by the target role types of maritime vessels knowledge
  • not needed by the target role use different communication channels skill
  • not needed by the target role work independently in rental services skill
7 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn customer service required
  • still to learn knowledge base required
  • optional, not held e-commerce systems optional
  • optional, not held sales activities optional
  • optional, not held consumer protection optional
  • optional, not held data mining methods optional
  • optional, not held relationship marketing optional
Index
FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a rental service representative become a customer service representative?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. A rental service representative already covers 36% of what a customer service representative is expected to do: 13 skills carry over, 9 of which the customer service representative role treats as required.

What skills does a rental service representative need to become a customer service representative?

15 required skills are missing, plus 11 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is determine charges for customer services.

How hard is the move from rental service representative to customer service representative?

Its learning distance is 67.7 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

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.