Wanna know the level of demand in the consumer services industry before pursuing a career in the field? Or you just want to know for some other reason known to you.
This article will help you know the number of jobs available in different careers in the consumer service industry. Before we go straight into that, let us have an overview of what consumer service means.
Overview Of The Meaning Of Consumer Services
This is one of the huge industries in the career world. You can not undermine the importance of consumer service, even in the economy.
I need to explain using the US economy, that 70% of US GDP can be accounted to the service sector. And consumer service is one of the divisions of the service sector. So, you can agree that consumer service is a career path that can’t be overemphasized.
The consumer service industry is about businesses or individuals providing services to consumers. These services include health, education, etc.
This industry is different from customer services. Don’t mix them up.
Different Types of Consumer Services
There are four different types of consumer service. I am going to be talking about these types, and discuss the career potentials in figures.
-
Wholesale and Retail Service
This simply deals with the public, by selling goods or services to them. This is divided into two: wholesale and retail.
Those small shops that come in handy when you need some things are perfect examples of retail consumer service.
They deal with the public one-on-one when selling them goods or services. The wholesalers, deal with the retailers. They sell to them in bulk, before the retailers sell to the consumers.
They are very important, even though they seem minute. For this reason, there are a lot of jobs around created for people.
There are a lot of jobs in this sector like salesperson, accountant, managers, human resources professionals, IT professionals, etc.
-
Leisure and Hospital Service
I guess that you already have a little idea of what the type of consumer service is about. What leisure and hospitality services are about is increasing the quality of life in a specific capacity, e.g lodging, feeding, recreation, etc. There are a lot of jobs providing a means of income for different people in this sector.
One of the growing industries in the US is the leisure and hospitality industry. And as speculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the industry should grow more than any other industry in the next 10 years.
The sector is unique in that there are jobs available for different levels of education. And you can advance in your career in the leisure and hospitality industry. If you think you need a career that allows you to have control over your time to an extent and career advancement, you can consider one in leisure and hospitality.
-
Health and social consumer service
As you’d expect, the healthcare system is part of this sector, a very important one. They ensure that the public has access to good healthcare.
There are types of health and social consumer services which includes safety net hospital, and community health centre.
Safety net hospitals make healthcare accessible to people with low income without insurance. These hospitals depend on the government to be funded for proper operations
The community health centre also makes primary health care services accessible to people who are not insured and living in underserved places.
Yeah, there are a lot of jobs in this sector too due to the number of places around that offer health and social services. The jobs are available in places like hospitals, schools, rehab centres, nursing homes, primary health centres, etc.
The jobs you can find related to this sector in these places are dietitians, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, etc. The jobs are well-paid because of the nature of their job.
The growth observed in this sector in the US is pretty notable and full of potential. There are opportunities in the sector.
-
Education Consumer Services
One thing that will always be sure every time is the fact there will always be students around. This is probably the reason why the education consumer service has been experiencing so much growth.
The service in this sector includes school counselling, test preparation, student loan refinancing, career education, and planning. You will agree that the market is such a large one
There are a lot and many kinds of jobs in the educational sector. The ones we all know are jobs involving teaching students at any level of education.
Things You Need to Consider When Searching for a Job in the Consumer Industry
There are things you might need to take note of when you are trying to apply for jobs in the industry. These are what I will be discussing here:
-
Qualifications
This is very important when applying for a specific job. Check the description and see if you the demanded requirement which includes educational level, work experience, skills, etc.
Different jobs require different educational levels, so be sure you are qualified to apply before applying.
Also, work experience is equally important. There are various reasons why work experience is demanded. It might be that the job is not that can be taken up by an entry-level or out-of-college individual.
Besides the educational qualification, some jobs also demand some specific skills for some kinds of job. And you might not be considered over others if you don’t have those skills. Fish out skills that are commonly demanded in the sector and get yourself equipped.
-
Your personality
This is one of the least considered things before applying for a job. Try to check out the company you are applying to. If it is possible to have a sneak pick into what the work environment in the company looks like, it will be perfect.
This is because you have to judge if this company’s work environment is okay for your person to work in. If this is not considered at all, your effectiveness and productivity might be a little affected if you eventually get into the company.
You can also check if you can get access to the company policies, and see if it is something that sits well with you.
-
Where the company is situated at
You have to understand that many companies would prefer that the members of their staff live close by. For companies with branches, they transfer members of staff to branches closest to where they live.
Check for the location where the company you are applying for a position is. If you feel that the distance is too wide, you might need to reconsider the application. People living near the company, with equal qualifications as you, might have an upper hand over you.
-
The pay
Most job descriptions include the pay, and you should consider if the pay is something that cuts it for you. If you are just looking to break into a career as a graduate, you might not necessarily worry too much about the pay. That does not mean you take peanuts though.
How Many Jobs are Available in the Consumer Services
Wondering the availability of jobs in the consumer services industry? There are millions of jobs in different careers in the consumer services sector.
A quick fun fact. Do you know that consumer services have the 3rd highest number of jobs available? Yes, you can call it the big fish.
The consumer service market in the world is a $3.5 trillion market. It has grown by 4.5% in the last 10 years. The growth has been consistent over the years and is expected to grow more in the years to come.
The sector is a wide one as explained earlier. There are two divisions of the sector, or let me say the consumer service sector has two ways it can serve consumers.
- Consumer services, which is the services provided directly to customers.
- Business to business, which is the services provided by a business to another business.
This industry – consumer services to be specific, has experienced growth by the rate of 4.5% in the last 10 years while the business-to-business division witnessed about 3% growth rate in the last 10 years. And not just this, the industry or sector as a whole is expected t leap at the rate of 5%. That’s a lot if you ask me.
The number of jobs available in consumer services has been affected by this, as it saw an increase of 7%. Between 2009 and 2016 US experienced an increase in consumer service jobs by 10%.
The only future concern is that Artificial Intelligence might be a strong threat to the industry in a long run. AI is a threat to many jobs already, but I strongly believe that AI cannot and won’t take the place of humans in most jobs, not in this decade.
Let us have a lot at a few of these careers in the sector, and the number of jobs available:
-
Receptionist
You will always find a receptionist in most office settings. You can refer to these guys as the model or face or interface of the company. They connect and engage with prospects, clients, and customers when needed, and connect customers to employees that can attend to them. They make sure to do the duties assigned to them, answer important calls representing the company, etc.
You can easily get a job as a receptionist. Most often, ladies are the fittest for this job role because of their nature.
There are 1,689,000 receptionist jobs available, and the rate of growth of the job between 2020 and 2030 is estimated to be 5%.
-
Account Manager
The major job responsibility of an account manager is to connect customers with suiting products that will satisfy them, solve customers’ problems, etc.
There are 1,022,000 account manager jobs available, and the rate of growth of the job between 2020 and 2030 is estimated to be 5%.
-
Host/hostess
What a host does is welcome a customer into a restaurant (for example), take their reservations, puts them on the waitlist, help them with their seat and help them out with the menu.
They are also responsible for taking calls from customers, and helping other members of the staff whenever they are needed.
There are 418,000 account manager jobs available, and the rate of growth of the job between 2020 and 2030 is estimated to be 14%.
-
Call center representative
These professionals are really important in any company and popular among telecom companies. Their responsibilities of handling calls going or coming in from customers about different things.
They help customers know about the issues they are having, apologize to the customer about it, and then help them solve the issues.
There are 417,000 account manager jobs available, and the rate of growth of the job between 2020 and 2030 is estimated to be -2%.
-
Bank teller
Bank tellers’ responsibility is to help customers out by collecting the deposits from them. They also help with any other bank-related issues.
There are 405,000 account manager jobs available, and the rate of growth of the job between 2020 and 2030 is estimated to be -12%.
-
Technical support engineer
What a technical support engineer does is to help a customer know about the technical issues they are facing and solve them.
There are 333,000 account manager jobs available, and the rate of growth of the job between 2020 and 2030 is estimated to be 10%.
-
Customer service manager
I guess you already have an idea what their role is. They talk with customers answer the questions they have, find solutions to their problems, and monitor customers’ progress on the issues they have.
There are 211,000 account manager jobs available, and the rate of growth of the job between 2020 and 2030 is estimated to be 6%.
-
Flight attendant
They work with airlines, and their service is about the customers – the flight passengers. They make sure that the passengers get well served. This may include welcoming the customers well, ensuring they follow the safety precautions, etc.
There are 111,000 account manager jobs available, and the rate of growth of the job between 2020 and 2030 is estimated to be 10%.
-
Hotel concierge
The service of a concierge working in a hotel is to a customer trying to use the hotel. They help the customer get familiar with the facilities, make a reservation for customers as demanded, etc.
There are 8,000 account manager jobs available, and the rate of growth of the job between 2020 and 2030 is estimated to be 0%.
Conclusion
As you can see from the guide, there are millions of jobs in the consumer services industry. I hope this content gave you the information that you need.