If you’re about to start work in a call center, or change companies and are going into an interview, it’s important to know ahead of time what the interviewer might ask you, the worst thing is to be caught off guard and fumble a response! We have collected a variety of interview questions specifically for call center professionals and service representatives, so you can know what to expect the interviewer to ask.
Interview Question #1:
“What is a call center? What are the different types of call centers?”
Answer: A call center is a location that supports a large volume of telephone calls or texts. The calls could be anything from customer support questions, technical support, customers calling to make sales, or outbound calls to potential customers for marketing purposes.
There are two main types of call centers. They are split depending on the types of calls they will be handling, whether they be inbound or outbound.
Read: What are the different types of call centers?
Interview Question #2:
“How would you rate your English?”
Answer: Call centers are usually looking for employees with an excellent understanding of English. However, just because you understand English does not mean you are guaranteed a job – you need to be able to understand and converse in English, sometimes in very technical situations. If you answer anything other than “excellent”, call center hiring managers may regard your English skills as not up to par – and you don’t want that! Grammar is important! Talk to a native English speaker to get their opinion on your grammar, and
Before you interview: Make sure that you are able to speak fluently and concisely in English, or the language you are required to support, before you begin looking for call center work. If you are unable to speak English, look for call centers who are looking for support representatives specifically to support customers or clients of your native language.
Interview Question #3:
“Is this your first time working for a call center? Have you worked for a call center before?”
Do not be afraid if you have no prior experience – state that you are new to working in a call center but that you are knowledgeable about how they operate and look forward to contributing towards the position. If you do have experience, relate that experience and state what you have learned from that prior position or company, never bash your former employer.
Interview Question #4:
“Are you able to be on the phone the whole day?”
Answer: You should always say yes. Do not state that you expect there to be downtime in-between calls, or that you will rest during breaks, state that you are very comfortable being on the phone and see no problem with assisting customers for a long period of time throughout the day.
Interview Question #5:
“Why do you want to work in a call center?”
Answer: Talk about how you want to grow your professional career and are looking for a reputable way to form relationships at work and with the customers you speak with everyday. If the interviewer notices that you are only focused about the money they will be less likely to hire you because they may think that you will immediately leave if offered a higher salary somewhere else.
Interview Question #6:
“How would you handle a customer who is upset or unhappy?”
The most important part of dealing with unhappy customers is to put yourself in their shoes and consider what they may be going through. Using empathy is a great way to do this so that you can establish a common ground with the angry caller and relay to them that you understand why they are upset. The interviewer may offer you an example case such as “A lady is upset that her internet is not working and is very angry” and ask you to pretend as if you are consoling the woman on the phone. Prepare to role play and practice speaking to a customer beforehand.
Interview Question #7:
“Call Centers can be stressful, can you work under pressure?”
The best way to answer this question is by stating that you work well under pressure, and then following up with a real-life example of how you kept your cool and professionalism when dealing with a difficult or stressful situation.
Interview Question #8:
“Are you familiar with call center terminology such as IVR + BPO?”
Familiarize yourself with common call center terminology before you go into the interview. If appropriate, incorporate those terms into your answers for other questions.
Interview Question #9:
“If you were hiring a call center rep, what would you look for in the person you are about to hire?”
For this question, talk about how you would look for your strengths (while being modest) and how you would look for someone who is dependable and professional at all times. You could also talk about how prior experience is important, but only if you are coming from a previous call center position and have the skills you are speaking so highly about!