The pandemic has drastically accelerated the work-from-home and remote working career trends. Young people love the idea of being able to work online/remotely while traveling, and parents love being able to work from home in order to be with their kids. 

Let's face it, nobody likes rush hour traffic, packed buses and subway trains. Today, more than ever, an increasing number of people are looking for remote jobs that they can do from home, and online live chat support jobs are amongst the most sought after job titles right now due to their relatively low barrier of entry. 

If you are amongst the people looking for an online chat support job for 2023, you are at the right place. I'll cover some of the most popular options for you in this article, but first let's start with some definitions...

What is a Remote Chat Support Job and What Does it Imply?

First, let's get on the same page about the job and its day to day responsibilities. Being a remote live chat support agent usually means that your main responsibility will be to answer customer support or sales' related requests that come in through a company's website. 

Responsibilities may include:

• Answering live chat support request coming in through a company's website, mobile app or social media accounts.

• Answering incoming phone calls

• Answering support emails

• Document all support requests

• Use company's software to start new support cases and escalate existing ones

• Relay to management team the most common questions and issues

Most big companies now offer their customers the ability to start a live chat support request to get help regarding their account, product or service. Many customers actually prefer chatting with a live chat support agent rather than calling in or emailing. 

It may sound easy at first, but some live support jobs can get quite complex, as you will be required to fully understand the product or service you are offering support for. Imagine having to offer live support for an enterprise software solution that caters to engineers or programmers? That won't be a walk in the park if you don't have the right academics or experience. . 

Top 5 Ways to Find a Remote & Online Live Chat Support Assistant Job

#1 - Social Sales Rep

It's a competitive landscape, especially if you're looking for the highest-paying remote live chat customer service jobs with the best benefits. 

Social Sales Rep developed a system that give you an edge over other applicants in this space, and allows you to easily apply to a lot of lucrative open positions. We highly recommend that you check it out, while applications are still open.

[Learn More About Social Sales Rep]

#2 - Indeed

Indeed.com is one of the most popular job search engines in the United States. A great thing about Indeed is that it allows you to search for "Remote" jobs only. Simply type a keyword like "live chat" or "customer support" in the job title field, and type "Remote" in the location field, then hit the "Find Jobs" button. 

You can save your search criteria and set up an alert so that new live chat online job postings that match your search criteria are sent to your email as soon as they are published. That way you'll be amongs the first applicants to any new job offer.

#3 - LinkedIn 

LinkedIn has a job search engine similar to Indeed that allows you to search for remote jobs across the United States or any other country. 

However, LinkedIn has an advantage over Indeed: it gives you additional search filters you can use, such as "Experience Level", which you can use to only bring up live chat support jobs that are "Entry Level" and require no or little experience in the space. 

LinkedIn is one of our favorite job boards to search for online jobs you can do remotely, as it also has an "easy apply" feature which allows you to apply to a new job posting at the click of a button, without having to manually send your resume and cover letter by email to the employer. 

#4 - Glassdoor

Glassdoor has an advantage that other job sites don't have: they give you accurate salary information for the jobs you want to apply for. In fact, Glassdoor has been the goto source on the web when it comes to salary research for over a decade. 

Again, just like with LinkedIn or Indeed, you can use Glassdor's search field to find remote jobs and type relevant keywords in the search field like: live chat, customer service, etc. 

The downside of Glassdoor is that they make you create an account in order to see their open jobs and careers. 

#5 - ZipRecruiter

ZipRecruiter is similar to Glassdoor. They make you go through a form and a quiz, before they show you their open job postings. One good thing about ZipRecruiter is that they allow you to select a minimum salary when conducting a job search, which can help you filter out the low paying jobs right off the bat. 

What are the Requirements & Qualifications for Being a Live Chat Support Agent?

What makes these jobs attractive to people, besides the fact that they allow you to work from home or remotely, is that most of them require no experience. The general requirements are:

• Having a recent and functional computer or laptop

• Having a stable high-speed internet connection

• Being able to work independently 

• Being able to work a set amount of hours per week and sometimes varying shifts (day, evening, night, weekends, holidays) depending on the job

• Being able to read and write English fluently is obviously another requirements if you are looking for jobs in the United States, Canada or any other English-speaking country. 

Other requirements are to be expected for more technical jobs, but generally they will provide training, especially if the job is entry level. 

Pros & Cons of Being a Live Chat Support Agent

Make sure you understand the pros and cons of getting a job in this field, before spending time and energy searching and applying for job offers. In this table we cover some of the most obvious advantages and disadvantages...

Pros

• Work from home or remotely from a location of your choosing. 
• Some jobs pay very competitive hourly wages, starting at $25 per hour
• Some jobs allow you to set your own schedule and choose your shifts.
• Many live chat jobs require no experience and no specific diploma or degree
• No rush hour traffic and no need to deal with packed buses and subway trains!
• Stay at home close to your family

Cons

• Some live chat support assistant jobs can get stressful as you have to handle a large number of incoming chats per hour. 
• Working from home means that you can easily get distracted by your kids, pets or daily chores, and this may affect your performance. 

What Companies Hire For Remote Online Chat Support Positions?

This is a relatively new field. Ten years ago, there was only a few tech companies that actively hired live chat agents. Today, it's a completely different story. We're well into the digital age, an the pandemic has forced many "digitally-sceptic" companies to invest in their online presence and help their employees transition from working in an office to working from home. 

Some of the biggest companies always hiring for remote customer service and live chat support jobs include: 

• Verizon

• T-Mobile

• AT&T

• Apple

• Google

• Amazon

• Amazon

• Nikon

• Nordstrom

• Toys "R" Us

• HP

• Shopify

• Wayfair

• Bodybuilding.com

• Goldsmiths

• Warby Parker

This is by no means an extensive list of companies that hire for these types of jobs, but they are some of the big names that are known to constantly have open vacancies in the fields of remote customer service assistants and live chat agents. I encourage you to look at their open job boards on a regular basis. 

A Promosing Future Based on Studies & Statistics

The live chat industry is poised to grow exponentially. Just look at these stats:

• The average number of chats per month have increased 33% per agent in 2021  (Source: Comm100)

• 73% of customers find live chat to be the most satisfying way to communicate with a business (Source: Investp)

• 92% of people say they feel satisfied when they use a live chat feature (Source: ZenDesk)

• 42% of customers prefer to use live chat to give contact information (Source: Investp)

• 63% of consumers said they would most likely return to a website that offered live chat (Source: Investp)

• 42% of consumers say that they prefer live chat functions because they can multitask and don't have to wait on hold. (Source: Inc Magazine)

• Millennials prefer live chat for customer service over every other communication channel. (Source: Comm100)

• 90% of Americans use customer service as a factor in deciding whether or not to do business with a company

• 58% of American consumers will switch companies because of poor customer service.

• 38% of customers said they made a purchase due to a satisfying live chat session (Source: Investp)

• 51% of customers say they prefer live chat because they can multitask while receiving support for their issue (source: eConsultancy report)

Top Reasons Why Live Chat Is Preferred By Consumers

Online Job Seeker FAQ

Q: what is the typical salary or hourly wage for an online customer support assistant job or live chat agent?

A: it depends on many factors, such as the company, the qualifications and schedule (night shifts tend to pay more). Some companies in the US and Canada are advertising hourly wages of $25 to $35 per hour. Others can pay more or less. If the job required a college degree and makes you go through a training period, it's usually a sign that they will pay on the higher end. If they require no experience and offer no training, you can generally expect less. 

Q: do these types of jobs tend to be full time or part-time?

A: once again, it depends on the job offer. Many of them will start you as a part-time live chat agent, and will increase your hours based on performance. Others will give you a limited time contract, and extend it based on results. 

Q: how often do these jobs pay?

A: based on our research, most pay bi-weekly. Some pay monthly, and some of the most popular jobs in the space can pay weekly or even daily. 

Q: how do I know if a job offer is legit and not a scam? 

A: if they ask you to pay any amount of money in order to view or apply for a position, it's a red flag. Unless you are buying into a training program, an ebook or a professional resume review service, you shouldn't need to pay anything in order to view open positions and apply. 

Q: can college students apply for these online customer service jobs?

A: Yes! Many online live chat jobs require no experience and no degree or diploma, which make them a good fit for college students. The senior jobs, however, might not be the best fit for a college student as they will likely require some experience and academics.

Q: do companies hire American customer service assistants for these jobs or do they oursource these jobs offshore?

A: companies used to outsource these jobs offshore to save money, but due to large number of complaints from clients, companies are now prioritizing the hiring of local english-speaking reps for their live chat and online customer service positions. This trend is expected to continue as companies are seeing a higher satisfaction rate from using locally based customer service assistants over offshore assistants.  

Ready to Start Applying for Remote Live Chat Job Postings?

View Open Positions with Social Sales Rep today. Social Sales Rep is a training program that goes beyond the usual job boards and helps you increase your revenue by teaching you various digital skills and strategies...