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Customer Service Representatives vs New Accounts Clerks: what changes?

Consider Customer Service Representatives if you want to interact with customers to provide basic or scripted information in response to routine inquiries about products and services. Consider New Accounts Clerks if you would rather interview persons desiring to open accounts in financial institutions. Both list high school diploma or equivalent; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Customer Service Representatives and New Accounts Clerks. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences
What this means in practice

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Start with earnings, the route into the job, training, available openings, and a day-to-day reality.

Customer Service Representatives

National median pay (2025)
$44,770
Route into the job
High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience
No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing
One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate
Confer with customers by telephone or in person to provide information about products or services, take or enter orders, cancel accounts, or obtain details of complaints.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
289,500
Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 5.3% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Customer Service Representatives brief

New Accounts Clerks

National median pay (2025)
$47,670
Route into the job
High school diploma or equivalent; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience
No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing
More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate
Perform teller duties as required.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
2,300
Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 6.5% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full New Accounts Clerks brief
See scores, detailed data, and how the comparison works

How the national numbers differ

1

Customer Service Representatives has the edge on annual openings

Customer Service Representatives is at 289,500 annual openings, compared with 2,300 annual openings for New Accounts Clerks.

2

Typical preparation differs.

Customer Service Representatives: High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing New Accounts Clerks: High school diploma or equivalent; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing Preparation categories do not establish admission difficulty, calendar time, tuition, time without earnings, or licensing difficulty.

3

New Accounts Clerks has the edge on median pay

New Accounts Clerks is at $47,670, compared with $44,770 for Customer Service Representatives.

4

Customer Service Representatives has the edge on projected growth

Customer Service Representatives is at -5.3% projected growth, compared with -6.5% projected growth for New Accounts Clerks.

49.9/ 100

Customer Service Representatives

vs
27.7/ 100

New Accounts Clerks

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Customer Service Representatives vs New Accounts Clerks

DimensionCustomer Service RepresentativesNew Accounts Clerks
Median pay (2025)$44,770$47,670
Pay percentile17.5 percentile25.3 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)-5.3%-6.5%
Annual openings (2025–2035)289,5002,300
2025 employment2,666,00037,900
How you qualifyHigh school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensingHigh school diploma or equivalent; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation groupJob Zone 2Job Zone 3
Related work experienceNo prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job trainingOne month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.