Summary

1. Parts of a call center interview
2. Objectives of a call center interview
3. Types of interview questions
4. Your goals in a call center interview
5. Call center interview questions
6. Problems in a call center interview
7. Simple solutions to call center problems
8. Review and next steps

Parts of a call center interview

The first part of a call center is the introduction.

You want to get to know each other.

You’ll be asked to “tell them about yourself.”

The second part is where you discuss your past jobs and work experience.

The interviewer matches what you can do to what is required in a job.

You’ll be asked to “talk about your past jobs” or “talk about your career from the time you left school.”

The third part is the job fit.

The interviewer assess if you are a fit for the job based on your past behavior and your attitude.

You’ll be given different situations that are similar to what they need.

Objective of a call center interview

The objective of the call center interview is to answer two questions:

1. Are you a good person to hire?
2. Are you a good person?
3. What is the proof?

Many don’t realize that these three questions summarize all the call center questions.

Here are more specific versions of the above three questions.

However, please remember that interviewers rarely ask these questions directly.

Are you a good person to hire?

• Can you work as a call center agent?
• Can you speak English well?
• Can you type fast enough?
• Can you navigate computers easily?
• Are you patient enough for customer service?
• Are you persistent enough for sales?
• Are you thorough enough for technical support?
• Are you disciplined enough to work in a night-shift schedule?
• Are you responsible enough for a higher paying job?
• Are you organized enough to qualify for a management post?

Are you a good person?

• Will you stay at the company for two years or longer?
• Will you follow company rules and procedures?
• Will you be respectful to all coworkers and customers?
• Will you make a sincere effort to learn and master the job?
• Will you be truthful in your interactions?
• Will you stay disciplined and go to work even when you don’t feel like it?
• Will you stay professional and keep personal problems out of the office?
• Will you be at work on time all the time and never miss a scheduled shift?

What is the proof?

• Is this person telling the truth?
• How do I know that this person isn’t just exaggerating their positive traits?

These are questions that interviewers rarely ask directly but it’s important to remember that there are other ways of asking these questions.

Types of Interview Questions

There are two types of interview questions.

1. Direct questions
2. Indirect questions

Direct questions often have only one answer.

• What’s your name?
• Where do you live?

Indirect questions are often open ended where you are asked to narrate a story.

• Talk about your past job.
• Tell me about a situation when…

Your goals in a call center interview

Your goal is to convince the interviewer that you are good enough based on the secret questions that I have shared.

However, just as the interviewer can’t ask obvious questions directly, it won’t be good for you to answer the same questions directly.

A person who says he’s trustworthy can’t be trusted.

A person who say’s he’s honest is probably lying.

A person who says he’s loyal is probably cheating on you.

Filipinos call this…

“Nagbubuhat ng sariling bangko.”

How do I tell the interviewer that I’m a good person without directly telling them that I’m a good person?

I’ll make a good call center agent!

I’m very hard working!

I’m professional and honest!

I’m good at speaking English!

These are answers that many beginners make.

Read these sentences again?

How do the sentences sound?

Even if you read the sentences confidently, it’s going to sound awkward.

How do I tell the interviewer that I’m a good person without directly telling them that I’m a good person?

It took me several years to figure this out.

I studied the best practices at different industries including sales, marketing, negotiation, and psychology to put this together.

Here’s the heirarchy.

The lowest level of answer is the direct answer.

The better answer is to give examples.

The best answer is to share stories.

We already discussed the lowest level.

Here’s why it doesn’t work.

You only talk about the positive trait.

You don’t have proof.

When you talk about a positive trait, you’ll need to provide proof.

What are examples of your positive trait?

What is a professional?

• Are you punctual with attendance and deadlines?
• Are you disciplined and organized?
• Are you honest yet polite and respectful?
• Do you pay attention to what you are doing?

I’m a professional. I’m punctual with attendance and deadlines. I’m also disciplined and organized. I’m also honest yet polite and respectfule. I’ also pay attention to what I’m doing.

This sounds a little better because there’s proof but still sounds off because you are only talking about yourself.

Here’s another example.

I’ve worked in a store for five years. I made a lot of mistakes when I was new. Luckily, my manager helped me stay organized with my work. All my effort went to taking care of myself so I could be at work on time and at my best. My manager taught me how to sell and deal with angry customers. I also spent closing time organizing the store and putting together my sales report. I feel that many of the things I learned in the store also apply to this job. I also feel that whatever problems I encouter can be solved easily with the right guidance. All I need to do is to focus on taking care of myself and being present at work.

What do you think of this short story?

Is this a better answer?

Your goals in a call center interview

Your goal is to tell the interviewer that you are:

1. a good person to hire.
2. a good person.
3. and show proof.

Remember these guidelines and you’ll find it easy to come up with geniune answers.

Keep in mind that everyone on the internet blindly copies answers.

I want you to come to the interview with an orignal answer and impress the interviewer.

Call Center Interview Questions

Here are the most common interview questions.

I’ll also share my answers.

Using what you’ve learned from the above lesson, I want you to come up with your original answers.

Tell me about yourself

My name is Kevin. who am I?

I live in Parañaque. where am I from?

I used to work in sales. what is my past job?

We sold products and services to different companies. what are my job responsibilities?

I’m responsible for reaching out to different companies, offering products and services, then eventually processing the sale. what are my job responsibilities?

Why did you leave your previous job?

I’m excited to work in a call center because of the high pay, benefits, and predictable schedule.

My friends tell me that reputable companies pay well and pay on time all the time.

I also heard that big companies will allow me to enroll at gyms at a discount.

What are you currently doing?

OPTION 1: UNEMPLOYED

I took a short break after my past job.

I’m assisting my family with the business, household maintenance and processed papers.

I also took an online course to improve my communications, sales, and computer skills.

OPTION 2: EMPLOYED

I’m still employed with my current employer and I’m looking for other opportunities to grow in my career and expand my pay.

I have already prepared what I need for my clearance. Should you choose to hire me, I just need to inform my employer and process my exit.

What are your strengths?

I’ve always had a difficult time answering this question.

Many of the skills that I have now were tasks that I was previously bad at.

I only got to where I am with the help of my manger (or teacher).

For example, I’m not good at writing.

All my writing from a few months ago are terrible.

My instructor helped me fixed my grammar and I practiced everyday until I got decent at what I do.

EXAMPLE 2:

For example, I’m not good at selling.

I couldn’t sell anything when I started working.

My boss was very patient with me and taught me how to smile and talk to customers.

I just repeated what my boss taught me until people started to buy.

What are your weaknesses?

I always had difficult answering questions like these.

See my answer to the strengths question.

Why should we hire you?

I always had difficult answering questions like these.

See my answer to the strengths question.

Tell me about a difficult situation that you had faced

I have a lot of examples of difficult situations that I had in my past job.

I didn’t have many computer skills when I started working.

Our school didn’t have a good computer program so my boss was upset when they discovered that I’m not good with computers.

I’m very fortunate that I was given a chance.

My boss taught me how to perform the tasks on the computer.

I also watched videos on how to get better at using THE SOFTWARE.

I even enrolled in an online course and eventually got better.

NOTE: When you skip sharing the stories part, the interviewer will ask you a question like this related to the positive trait that you talked about earlier in the interview.

FOR EXAMPLE:

1. Professional. Tell me about a situation when you were going to miss a deadline.
2. Hard working. Tell me about a situation when you had to perform overtime.
3. Honest. Tell me about a situation when you had to deliver bad news.

Have these stories ready to answer the questions easily.

Where do you see yourself three to five years from now?

It’s my first time to work in a call center so I’m not set on a career path yet.

I know that I can become a team leader and eventually part of management.

My friends tell me that I could become a support staff like a QA or instructor.

My current goal is to master the job so I’m qualified to grab opportunities that present themselves within the company.

Problems in a call center interview

Call center applicants make the following mistakes.

1. try to beg for a job.
2. talk about positive traits.
3. don’t have the English version of their story ready.
4. talk about personal problems that don’t have solutions.

Simple solutions to call center interview problems

1. Know yourself including what you do well.
2. Prepare stories.
3. Prepare stories.
4. Focus on answering the questions:
   • Are you a good person to hire?
   • Are you a good person?
   • What is the proof?

Write your stories in your journal.

Keep a journal about your past work.

Try writing stories about what happened in a job.

Consider the following questions:

• What stories can you share that will make an interviewer like you?
• What are your stories where you solved a problem?
• What are your stories where you faced a difficult challenge?

Work on your stories.

Review and next steps

We talked about a lot of topics.

1. Parts of a call center interview
2. Objectives of a call center interview
3. Types of interview questions
4. Your goals in a call center interview
5. Call center interview questions
6. Problems in a call center interview
7. Simple solutions to call center problems
8. Review and next steps

Make sure that you review the next step.

Improve your communication skills.

I am praying for your success.

God bless!

Kevin O

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