This article was originally published on ComeRecommended.com.

Customer service jobs all have one thing in common: they are the ultimate way to learn how to deal with people. In customer service jobs, you deal with happy people, grumpy people, and dopey people. Yes, those adjectives describe some of the seven dwarfs, but they’re true nonetheless. You have to learn how to communicate with every kind of person when you work in customer service. These jobs are the perfect opportunity to improve your soft skills, which is why it doesn’t matter if it’s the retail industry, food service, guest relations, or customer support.

Every single person in the workforce should spend some time working in a customer service job, and here’s why:

Communication Skills

The most important and most obvious skill you will learn working in customer service is the ability to communicate effectively. Communication skills are on the top of the list of soft skills required by many employers. In these jobs, you will have to explain products, services, and policies, as well as understand what the customer wants. For effective communication, you need to come up with a simple message and speak clearly. You also have to be able to listen to a customer’s needs.

In customer service jobs, you will have to deal with all kinds of people. Many of them will be very receptive to your message, but quite a few of them will give you some trouble. Customers will get angry at things beyond your control and take it out on you. Others will simply not understand you, despite all your best efforts.

In a customer service job, you will develop the communication skills to deal with all these types of people. You can transfer these skills to virtually any other job in the professional world.

Problem Solving Skills

Another huge benefit of working in customer service is the opportunity to pick up problem solving skills. There are infinite possibilities to the kinds of problems customers will have. You need to come up with solutions to these problems.

There will be problems you see on a regular basis, like a shopper being unsatisfied with a product they purchased. You’ll eventually memorize these solutions. However, you will also experience problems that are completely out of the ordinary. You’re going to have to get creative. If it comes down to it and you can’t solve a customer problem, you also need to be able to send them somewhere to find the information they need.

No matter what situation you find yourself in, you’ll constantly be developing your ability to solve problems quickly and effectively.

Responsibility 

Working in customer service also teaches you how to handle responsibility. In addition to being responsible for dealing with customers, you also have to do other things like order supplies, stock shelves, handle food, and more. It all depends on where you work.

You also have to take responsibility for your actions. Whether you mess up with a guest or another task, you need to own up to your mistakes, apologize, and find a way to fix it. You also need to be able to apologize to customers for things beyond your control. You represent your company, so accept responsibility for the problem when dealing with these customers.

Whether problems are your fault or not, it’s really important to know how to accept responsibility.

Confidence

Finally, customer service is really great for learning confidence. This could mean confidence in your abilities, talking to people, or completing a task. Along with confidence, you will gain a positive attitude and the ability to stand up for yourself. As sad as it is, people are often pretty mean. When you work in customer service, you learn to deal with these people in a way that doesn’t impact your confidence in your abilities. Often, people yell at the customer service person just because they’re the messenger. When you know you’ve done everything right, you can remain positive and assertive in these kinds of situations.

This confidence will be really beneficial throughout the rest of your career. You never know who you will meet or what situations you will face. Being able to keep a confident, positive attitude will get you much further than if you let people walk all over you.

In addition to communication, problem solving, responsibility, and confidence, there are many more soft skills you can learn in a customer service job. Soft skills are essential in every career path because they can set you apart from other candidates. Working in customer service will give you a very well-rounded background in so many soft skills, you’ll become a better candidate for future jobs.

Have you worked in customer service? What soft skills did you lean along the way?