Call Center Interview Questions and Tips (Part Two)

There were few occasions that I heard some people say not-so-good remarks about jobs in call centers, or being a call center agent. Some say it is a job for lazy people. There was even a group of people saying that you don’t have to be smart to get a job in call centers. Some even say that as long as you speak English, you can get the job. With all respect for these people, what they say is not true. Not only that it hurts to get branded as lazy and idiot here just because we work in call centers but because of a long list of positive qualities call center agents possess.

This industry needs people who can work independently and yet, can follow rules. And should I say this should be done under pressure? There are so many misconceptions about people who work in call centers and I am raising the banner to defend the Team Call Center, laughs! I have a feeling I am becoming emotional here and getting sidetracked from the topic we have for this second part of Call Center Interview Questions and Tips series for Team Call Center. Well, I must be writing a separate article focusing on this hot topic anytime soon, how’s that?

Anyway, idiocy and laziness have no room for the following list of questions being asked by recruiters to know the right person to man a call center job. It is because the focus of the list below is the candidate’s problem-solving and analytical skills which are indeed very important to be hired.

1. What major problem have you had to deal with recently?

The word ‘major’ in this question suggests for something not really so complicated but would at least make them think that you can work in a tough work environment. The answer is solely depending on experiences you had in life. Whatever answer you might have will certainly make an impact; however, the supporting details, more often than not, will influence the final score for this question.

One more thing, though. Please try to avoid giving too personal and emotional answers like issues about family, relationships, divorce, deaths, etc. The moment you say something like this (with tearful eyes, oh please), the recruiter will make a note on your application paper that you are an emotional type. Call centers are like a modern version of a jungle. It is the survival of the fittest. Emotional ones will not last.

2. Are you willing to do overtime work?

Say yes. They just want to know your willingness to have the job. Support this with situations you had to work overtime. This should not be a problem for people who had previous work experience but for graduating students or graduates, you can boast your big school projects like writing theses and research papers.

3. Was there a time when you were expected to learn several new things in your job or at school?

For competitive answers, give at least two major situations and tell how you coped with these changes. In call centers, anything can happen. Things can change overnight. This question wants to know your flexibility at work and your attitude against changes.

4. Would you rather work with information or with people?

This is another question to know your flexibility and attitude against unexpected things at work. Don’t go only for information or for people alone. In call centers, you should be able to work either with information or people. Truth is, this job is about information and people. So information and people are two inseparable items in call centers.

5. Do you enjoy doing independent research?

Again, the answer should be yes. This question not only wants to know your capability of doing a research work but it also wants to know your attitude, your feelings at work. Therefore, you should not only provide details of your previous experience, whether a research work in nature or research-related activity, but also the way you felt in the whole process of that particular project. The happy feelings you felt throughout the course of this certain experience should reflect in your choice of words, the way you say them, and more importantly, it should reflect on your face.

6. What changes would you make at your college or at your previous job?

It is another tricky question. Be careful with every word you say about your college or your previous job. Don’t say anything negative or too negative for it is as if you are badmouthing your college or former job. You can use positive scripting or choose positive words in delivering your answer. This question tests your creativity and sense of observation. They want to know what more you can contribute in the company in case they decide to hire you for the position. It is also one way of knowing the level of your dedication or involvement in your job.

7. How much training do you think you’ll need to become a productive employee?

It is another challenging question. Don’t say you don’t need further training just to sound smart. You can say that you would still need to have the product and system-related trainings provided by the company which should be enough to prepare you to the actual job on the floor. Call centers provide these language and product/technical trainings prior to sending new hired agents to the production floor.

There is still more to this list on my future postings. See what I mean when I say, this must be the most challenging series I have for Team Call Center? Laughs! I hope that these lists are helping you somehow in preparing your answers for the full range of interview questions you might be asked during the interview. Bye for now. Smiles.

Call Center Interview Questions and Tips (Part One)

This might be the most challenging article I am writing for this blog! Yet indeed, when I was starting to apply for a call center job not so long ago, the availability of a list of most probably asked call center interview questions was something which I knew back then would be of a great help, especially for call center virgins like I was before (people who have no call center job experience yet). I gathered as much information as I could find from online, newspapers, magazines, and from my training with Verbal Advantage, too. Surprisingly, I got so many of them which I needed to categorize them by the most likely answers needed to hear or to know by the interviewer.

According to Kyle Gianan, my former trainer in Verbal Advantage, more often than not, interviews in call center recruitment process start with: Tell me something about yourself. Your answer for this should run for 1-2 minutes. It is your chance to sell yourself to the recruiter by banking on your qualifications and skills. This will also mark the start where they will be assessing your oral English communication skill which is the primarily important skill you should have to pursue a call center career (especially for voiced accounts). You can perfect this part by doing a pre-interview practice, and better if you had written a script which you should have memorized already by the day of the interview.

What to write in the tell-me-something script? Kyle advised to do it in the following order, if applicable: personal background, family background, educational attainment, work experience, seminars/trainings, skills, and hobbies. You can also change the order as needed, or if appropriate, you can add another item. You should close the script with a positive ending like, “If you will hire me, I want to start as soon as possible.” This line expresses your eagerness and interest to work in their company which will add to your points of getting hired.

When answering the following questions, use the power of positive scripting. Believe me that it really works! You can say something not-so-good using positive scripting which, more often than not, will lessen the gravity of its negativity, or if it’s really your day, it could transform the negativity of your answer into a positive one. It is all like playing a court game where you need to win the case by your own words.

One more thing, though. Be confident and make them feel you mean every word you say. Interviews are simple marketing game wherein you are selling yourself. Just think of the prize: a job. Now here is the first part of my list of questions that are most likely asked in an interview.

Questions for Qualifications

The list below is likely to be asked to call center virgins, although some of them can still be asked to someone who has already a call center experience.

1. Do you like talking to different people and personalities?

People who want to work in call center should be capable of dealing with different types of people. Every caller is different from other callers, given that they are calling for the same issue. In this question, your answer should be yes. It is better if you can relate a successful or fine situation where you had talked with a group of people of different personalities.

2. Have you sold anything over the phone?

In call center industry, every work or account is involved with selling, whether it is a sales account or not. For sales accounts, obviously you need to have competitive selling skill to get hired. For non-sales accounts, selling is still part of the job because you need to sell satisfying customer service. In this question, if your answer is yes, you need to support your answer with experiences you had before in selling over the phone. Your selling experiences are not limited to previous call center experience for a sales account. You can also include situations like taking an order over the phone for a fast-food business and the like in which you were able to convince the customer to add a dessert or an item.

If your answer is no, that is no problem. This is where you can use positive scripting. Instead of saying no, give a situation where you had closed a sale. You can say, “I was able to close an important sale before which was not over the phone but the impact it had for the store I was working with was amazing.” And you can add more details to explicate your positive selling experience.

3. Can you speak other languages other than English?

Other than English, there are call center companies which cater to other non-English countries. If your answer is yes, that is a plus but not a requirement unless it is specified on the job posting.

4. Have you ever been in a situation that involved problem solving?

There is no other answer for this question but a yes. The challenge here is for you to impress the recruiter by relating an actual situation in your life where you had used your problem-solving skill well. Call center job is, more often than not, about problem solving.

5. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

This is a tricky question. You can cite a long list of your strengths as long as they are related to a call center job. How about your weaknesses? What can you say that will not lose your points? Always remember that it is foolish to answer a no to this question. Be real. Everyone has their weakness. If you would say no, or that you cannot think of a certain weakness on the spot, it will only make you sound as if you are lying or worse, you will get a minus in oral communication skill. What you can do is you can settle for safe answers like not work-related items. For example, you can say, “Smoking is my weakness. Every time I see a stick, I feel like wanting to smoke right away.” For girls, you can say shopping as your weakness.

Another way to answer this question is by using the power of positive scripting. You can make a positive trait to sound like a negative one and still, it will have a more positive impact. How is that? That is simple. Instead of just saying that you are hard-working, you can say this, “I am too hard-working that sometimes I don’t have time left to have a night life.” This is a very smart answer for it does not only help you to provide an answer to the question instead of just saying a no but, it has also added a point to your score. Just be creative and yet honest.

6. How do you handle pressure?

A work in a call center is in the midst of a very challenging environment. They are many stats you need to achieve while you maintain the quality of your calls. You think of so many things at the same time because there are also deadlines you need to consider. So it is really important for the recruiter to know if you can work under pressure effectively. Of course, this question needs a yes for an answer. To make your answer more convincing, support it with actual experiences you had in the past.

Qualifications are still in question in the following list, but this time it is more likely to be asked to someone who already had a call center experience.

1. What can you contribute to the company, knowing the basics of being a call center agent?

Tell about your previous job, what you do and what you have learned. It is wise for you to bank your answer on your experience as a call center agent before. Like you can say that there will be no problem for you to work on night shift and holidays. There will be no culture-shock issue. If they will hire you, you can say that you can help first-timers in training and nesting. There are many other good answers to this question, just be creative.

2. How do you handle an irate caller?

What I was told by my previous trainers is this, don’t take it personally. Callers are not mad at you but to the company. Keep a polite attitude. Try to know the reason why the caller is irate in the first place. Get clues from the words the caller is saying. Look for alternatives. Do not promise anything that cannot be delivered for it will only aggravate the issue. Lastly, as much as possible, end the conversation on a positive note.

3. Why we should hire you?

Basically you need to tell your qualifications for the job. I remember when I applied for agent post for directory assistance and was asked with this very same question, my mind had a quick recall of the video they had in the lobby which was being played over and over again. Prior to the interview, I was memorizing as much as I could all the information about the company posted in the lobby as well as what was being said in the video. The video was saying this, “We don’t just hire agents, we change lives.” So I answered the question with this, “You should hire me because I believe you guys that you can change lives. Change mine.” Then I added my other qualifications for the job. I don’t know what was with my answer but I could remember the smile on the face of the recruiter that day and I got the job.

It will be a great pleasure to me if the provided answers and tips above can help you as guidelines to answer your interviews. But don’t limit yourself with them, be creative and try to personalize your answers. I always advise to prepare a script and practice a mock interview to increase your chances of getting hired.

There is more to this list under different categories. I will have them posted here real soon.

The Day before the Interview

Finally, you have now an interview! Congratulations! So what’s next? Always remember that your first interview is your first step to get the job. So it is really important that you do well in your initial interview. So, what you can do the day before your interview? What else but to prepare. Successful interview begins with preparation. The title of this article suggests a day before the interview. However, the following guidelines will be more effective days before the interview. My list is mostly based on my personal experiences. But still I hope it will be of help to you whether you are looking for a call center job or not.

1. Research about the job and the company

Given that we all know there are so many call centers in the country today, it is a must that you can convince the interviewer of a call center company that it is your personal decision (even if not really at all) that you have chosen their company over a hundred of other companies. In call centers, the employee turnover is always an issue and they prefer to hire people who will stay in the company for a longer period of time.

You can do this by doing a background research about the company. Survey the company through friends or get information online. You should at least know the company’s vision and mission statements. It will sound more impressive if you can also tell your interviewer the last time their company has won an award or recognition. You can actually use this as one of your reasons why you are interested in their company. Employers, or interviewers, like to know that you have made the effort to know their company, and it enables you to contribute to conversations in the interview.

In doing the research about the company, you might as well learn more about the trade or the call center industry. It will show more confidence if you know more, plus the impression you are giving them in an interview.

It is also advisable that you make a simple outline of the company’s history, products and/or services, and stability. It will serve as your guide as you give your answer but try to minimize the use of it during the interview. It is more helpful while you wait for your turn in the lobby on the day of the interview.

2. Formulate your answers for the possible interview questions

More often than not, initial questions in an interview will come from the resume itself so know your resume. If you have someone prepared your resume, read it, and understand what is written in there. Or else, you will be finding your way out the door sooner than you have expected when you stutter in an interview as you try to remember what is written in your resume.

Plan your strategy by formulating the possible questions you may be asked in an interview and write down your answers and memorize them. You can ask your friends who are already in call centers for interview questions.

3. Practice

Working in this industry (or probably in all types of job) calls for candidates who can multi-task and work independently. So it is important that you show them you are the person they are looking for. You can say anything you want to say to make them believe you are that person. However, the way you deliver them and the choice of words make the difference. Unfortunately, not everyone is born with oozing confidence. True it is that confidence cannot be learned overnight but through constant practice, you can have it.

Practice a mock interview with your friends, or with your family, because it will help you more than simply reading the possible questions and rehearsing the answers alone. Go over your best responses again and again until they become entirely natural, until they just roll off your tongue with the clear spontaneity. This can be achieved only through consistent practice along with thorough memorization.

Lastly, know your answers by heart. You should make your interviewer feel that you mean every word you say. And by truly understanding every answer you have, you will not get lost in the interview.

4. Prepare your attire and shoes

Prepare your smart and conservative standard business suit even if you are seeing a lot of people working in call centers more often than not in cool get-up. Remember, it is an interview and first impressions, as I always say here, are very important.

If you can’t help it not to be stylish, you are still free to show off your flair but be careful. Interviews still follow conservative standard attire because it commands respect and professionalism. For colors, you can choose pastel colors and any color that is pleasing to the eye.

More importantly, wear something that makes you feel confident. When you feel good about yourself in comfortable clothes and shoes, it allows you to easily open up to your interviewers.

Before you sleep, you better have your clothes neatly pressed already and hang it in a clean and dry area in your room, or in a cabinet. So that if there will be brownouts the next morning, you can still look presentable in your interviews. And why don’t you shine your shoes before you take that beauty sleep? It is always better to have everything prepared just in case of any unexpected issues.

5. Prepare your documents and other stuff

Know the saying, prevention is better than cure? This is always true. It is always okay to choose to wake up three hours earlier the next day so that you can still have enough time to prepare everything. But why do it tomorrow if you can do it today (or tonight)? Many interviews’, or pre-interviews’, disasters happen on the day of the interview itself. To minimize the chances of dealing with them, have everything important prepared even before you sleep.

Put in a neat envelop or separate envelops your important documents as needed. It is also wise to bring ‘emergency supplies’ like extra pen, a pair of scissors, scotch tape, and glue. Also, have medicines like for headache and LBM handy so to make sure that nothing can prevent you from getting that interview a success.

6. Have enough sleep

To look fresh and good the next morning, on the day of the interview, it should start with enough sleep from the previous night. It will help you to have focus during the interview the next day. So get enough sleep.

7. Pray

Prayer is always a powerful tool. Confidence coming from the Spirit results to a more peaceful state of mind and healthier body will follow. As it is written in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” So have a godly confidence and if it is the will of God, it will be given to you.

Always remember, every interview counts. Every successful interview you have will take you one step closer toward the potential job offer. If it weren’t successful, make sure you learn from it. Take it as an opportunity to perfect your skills in interviews. Practice makes perfect!

Source: www.collegegrad.com, www.bpotiger.com, and The Philippine Star. Bible verse from New International Version of The Holy Bible.