The Team

The Customer Services team in Manchester comprises of around 130 staff based at the Lighthouse in Salford Quays. Our Customer Services Specialists are friendly, hardworking, and driven by a desire to provide an excellent service to our customers.

They work towards personal and business goals, continuously improving and developing themselves and each other. They take responsibility for their own progression and knowledge, and take ownership of their customer’s queries.

If you have what it takes to deliver excellent customer service and a desire to go above and beyond, then we need you to join one of our teams.

Hours

Normal working hours are rotational from Mon-Fri:

8am – 4pm

8:30 am – 4:30pm

9am – 5pm

We also operate an occasional 7am – 3pm shift, working Sunday to Thursday to ensure we can support our customers in other time-zones.

The role

The Customer Services Specialist will primarily assist International accounts. We also

support the below departments during peak periods:

• FE Colleges

• Schools

• Employers and Private Training Providers

Pearson offer qualifications in over 80 countries around the world. You will deal directly with administration staff within a specific country allocation. You’ll be communicating with your own customer accounts based within your centre range, but will also need to adapt to support colleagues the wider teams. There may be a requirement to support all other customer accounts during peak/ busy periods so specialists will be given training on all systems, products and processes across our customer groups.

You will be the first line of contact by phone, email and live chat, assisting our customers in the administration of all Pearson qualifications. You will offer them confident support from the start of the academic year, making registrations and entries, through to certification of their students. You will do this by determining what the customer’s query is, using effective probing questions and problem solving skills to give them accurate and efficient guidance. This will include working to resolve complex and sometimes urgent queries.

We pride ourselves in our investment in people. We encourage you to be yourself, using the Pearson Values and your personal attributes to build rapport with your customers and across the business, to establish great relationships and develop your career.

There are two stepped salary increases which are earned by demonstrating the required skills, knowledge, and behaviors. You will be eligible for the first stepped increase after 12 months in the role and the next stepped increase from 6 months later.

This isn’t your average contact centre environment. There are no call scripts or unrealistic targets, we just want our friendly hard working teams to be the voice of Pearson and help us achieve our main goal in becoming the centre of excellence in customer service for our global company.

We consider all departments across the business as internal customers and aim to work collaboratively as One Pearson. We offer a competitive salary, internal reward schemes, benefit programs and great career prospects.

A day in the life of a Pearson Customer Services Specialist

08:00 – Start of the Day

I generally sit at my desk around 10 minutes before my shift starts, this could either be 8, 8:30 or 9 depending on the shift Rota that week. I will chat with my team and check everyone is ok before reading any updates that I need for the day. I log into the admin systems I need, so I’m ready to take calls and answer customer queries.

9:00

After taking a few calls and replying to some customer emails I will start work on some of the more complex queries I may have received from the day before, these may be to do with Invoicing or missing certificates. This requires me to get in touch with other departments and collaborate to find a resolution.

10:00

I’ll take a morning break and then check out my performance for the week. I can reflect on my productivity and raise any issues that are having an impact with my manager. I am always looking for ways to improve and its vital that I use the support of my manager to find effective new methods and insights into my own performance.

11:00

I’ll continue to take calls and answer emails from customers and other members of the team, the type of queries I get can differ from day to day. Schools and Colleges follow an academic calendar which means we get a lot of the same types of queries at certain times in the year, whereas Work based learning (WBL) centres offer training programmes to employees at any point in the year so does not follow the same schedule. Throughout the day I make it a priority to check my emails and the comms board hourly, this is to ensure I'm not missing out on any new vital information that will help me answer my customer queries more efficiently.

12:00

At around 12 I would head off for my lunch break, if we are in the office this may consist of a nice walk round the quays and to grab something to eat from one of the various food outlets around the area. We work as a team to ensure the phone lines are covered over the lunchtime period.

13:00

I will take some time in the afternoon to work on a project which has been assigned to me. These are usually designed around developing and improving the customer experience. It is vital that we listen to customer feedback and work hard to continually improve the service we provide to them. Taking part in these projects really helps with my personal development; increasing my knowledge and allowing me to take on more responsibility.

14:00

I will take an afternoon break and maybe go and get a coffee or step outside for some fresh air. Once my break is over its time to get ready for any scheduled afternoon meetings. This can range from a 121 with my manager or a catch up with my team, in-between these meetings I will be answering calls and resolving customer queries and emails.

15:00

Every team of 6-8 account specialists have a weekly buzz meeting with their manager. This is vital to reflect on the past week and the upcoming challenges whilst helping to enhance the overall wellbeing of the team.

16:00 – End of Day

By this time, I aim to have closed all my cases that I have been assigned for the day. If not, I make a note to myself so I know where I’m up to when I come in to work the next morning. If I started at 8 this is when I would be clocking off, sign off all applications, turn off the PC and head to the Gym.

In addition, specialists supporting may be required to:

Compile and deliver training online or at face to face events, dependent on your customer's needs.

Carrying out centre visits to meet your customers in person.

Attend network events hosted by your stakeholders where you are asked to update our customers on our ever changing business. At these events you will meet representatives from other awarding bodies and share in best practice.

Work additional hours during peak times with advance notice.

Pay rate is from £21,000 to £24,000

We are looking for a self motivated individual with basic technology skills. The training might be remote so we would need someone with capability to work from home. You will need to have a quiet place to work with a steady internet connection, where you can focus on customer queries without background disruption. You will also need to be able to work from the office in Salford Quays when asked to do so.

We continually strive to identify improvements in the way we work and encourage you to assist with improvement projects, meet other parts of this vast business and much more! We value our staff, we work hard to develop them and want them to be proud to work for us. We love fresh ideas on how to make our service better and your ideas won’t go unnoticed, often being implemented by the senior management teams.

We have a happy and productive teams, we work hard but we also play hard. From community fundraising to planning social events, there’s plenty to keep you motivated.

Qualifications

Who we are looking for

The ideal candidate will have a background in Customer Service or the ability to display the required skills to assist in the delivery of an excellent customer service experience.

They should display the skills needed to work as part of a team, work with multiple departments and also show the initiative and confidence to work alone when required.

We want people to join the Pearson family who are confident and self-motivated, with a passion for learning and development.

Ideally, you should have basic computer skills (Microsoft Office), and an ability to deliver quality service and meet our customer’s needs under pressure. The education sector is changing all the time and we need our people to be adaptable and proactively learn about and look to implement these changes. We would expect the specialist to adhere to professional (smart) attire at all times.

Some soft skills of a Customer Services Specialist include:

• Providing a customer focused service

• Communicating with influence to our customers, and across the business

• Working with others to achieve company and personal goals in a changing environment

• Taking a creative and innovative approach to work

• Deal with pressured circumstances, remaining clear headed and constructive at all times

• Adapt to sudden changes within the educational system, and being flexible to meet our customer and business needs throughout the academic year

• Retain information to a good standard and be proactive in finding answers, taking accountability for your own progression

• Be able to multitask as this is key when using multiple systems whilst talking to and assisting the customer

• Handling unhappy/unsatisfied customers in a polite manner

• Active listening and problem solving techniques. Identifying what the query is through probing questions, and then identifying the next steps and investigation that needs to take place.

Due to Covid-19 our team are currently working from home. We are looking for a self-motivated individual with basic technology skills. You will also need to have a quiet place to work with a steady internet connection, where you can focus on customer queries without background disruption. You will also need to be able to work from the office in Salford Quays when asked to do so.

Please note that if you are invited to an interview, you will need access to a device with a camera (laptop/tablet) and a steady internet connection.

Learning is the most powerful force for change in the world. More than 20,000 Pearson employees deliver our products and services in nearly 200 countries, all working towards a common purpose – to help everyone achieve their potential through learning. We do that by providing high quality, digital content and learning experiences, as well as assessments and qualifications that help people build their skills and grow with the world around them. We are the world’s leading learning company. Learn more at pearsonplc.com. Pearson believes that wherever learning flourishes, so do people. We are committed to being an anti-racist company in everything we do. We value the power of an inclusive culture and a strong sense of belonging. We promote a culture where differences are embraced, opportunities are accessible, consideration and respect are the norm, and all individuals are supported in reaching their full potential. Through our talent, we believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion make us a more innovative and vibrant place to work. People are at the center, and we are committed to a sustainable environment and workplace where talent can learn, grow, and thrive.

To learn more about Pearson’s commitment to a diverse and inclusive workforce, please click here: 

http://www.pearson.com/careers/diversity-and-inclusion.html

Pearson is an equal opportunities employer. We do not discriminate against employees or job applicants and select the best person for each job based on relevant skills and experience.

We are also committed to building an accurate picture of the make-up of the workforce and encouraging equality and diversity.

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