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Common Call Center Interview Questions

The booming call center industry today is increasingly looking for qualified applicants to fill up the many vacant positions needed by various call center companies. This can be a wonderful opportunity and an exciting experience for you to try out. If you have the skills and the qualities that call center companies look for, then you may just have improved you chances in landing a good and possibly high paying position in this relatively new service industry.

However, just like with any other job opening, you still need to go through the screening process in order to land any call center job position. One of the more important aspects of the screening process is the actual interview. If you have passed through all the other screening processes and are now preparing for that one-on-one interview with the recruiting officer, here are some possible call center interview questions to prepare for and how you may be able to answer them effectively.

“Tell me something about yourself that is not in your resume.”

There are instances where interviewers will ask questions not always related to the position being applied for. One of the main reasons for this is to catch the applicant off guard and to find a means to evaluate him or her in terms of creativity, articulation as well as their level of comprehension skills. Job-related questions are easy for many applicants to prepare for. Questions such as the one above aim to determine how an applicant composes himself or herself if caught off guard.

You can prepare a good answer for such questions by talking about your interests, hobbies and accomplishments. You can also indirectly connect it to the job you are applying for by adding in your work ethic, certain personality traits, and other strengths that will put you in a positive light concerning the job opening that you are applying for.

“Can you provide me with a brief summary of your employment history?”

There are two things that interviewers would like to get from you by asking you this question- to determine how you articulate yourself and to get additional information with regards to your job history. Interviewers sometimes would like to know how long you stayed with a company, the type of responsibilities you handled on the job as well as the reason why you left. This will give them a more accurate picture about you. The best way to address this question is by providing accurate and honest answers that will dispel any suspicion or negative views about you. Tell them the reason why you needed to resign or leave your previous company.

“Why would you like to work in the call center industry?”

A typical call center interview will sometime include this question. One reason why many interviewers include it is because they would like to know if you are someone who is just trying out the field or someone who has long-term goals staying in the industry. A good answer to such a question would be to cite certain areas in the industry that you like doing, such as customer service, technical support, etc. and how you would like to improve your skills doing it. Of course, you can also honestly cite that you are attracted to the competitive salary being offered. But your answer should just not be limited to your aim for financial stability.

Job Hunters and Headhunting Firms

Job hunters eager in looking for a job would usually prefer directly applying through companies in hopes of getting qualified and eventually hired as an employee. But with opportunities lacking and with more and more applicants lining up for jobs, there is a need to look for other ways of landing a job. Applying with a headhunting firm may provide just that avenue for many job hunters.

A headhunting firm or an executive search firm helps companies look for suitable candidates to fill up certain vacant positions. In a way, the firm also helps assist job hunters looking for openings that they may possibly qualify for. The headhunting trend actually is not a new concept. It started way back sometime in 1926 when company directors in the US started tapping into other channels for employment. The believed that these new channels with offer them a way of accessing a wider network for filling up vacant positions with qualified and experienced candidates. For call center companies nowadays, job hunting firms offer just that, a way to tap into a wider network of call center candidates to fill up the ever increasing number of call center jobs.

From the job hunter’s point of view, there may be certain misconceptions when it comes to dealing with a headhunting firm. Many believe that such firms only take a percentage of a candidate’s salary as commission, similar to what manpower agencies do. This is far from the truth. The headhunters strike up an agreement with companies to aid them in looking for qualified candidates for vacant job positions. It does not include taking a cut from the hired candidate’s pay. The salary contract is separate and is only between the client company and the hired candidate.

With the great demand for call center jobs that only continues to increase, many call center companies now depend on headhunting firms to help them find qualified candidates that their own recruitment department can’t fill up due to several factors. It also helps companies take care of the daunting task of searching, identifying, and interviewing prospective candidates for call center jobs. In a way, a headhunting firm is a go-between to help job hunters meet up with companies and vice versa.

How iStaff Outsourcing Services can help job hunters like you?

If you are an experienced call center agent looking for better job opportunities, iStaff Outsourcing Services can provide you with a way to land that ideal call center job you are looking for. Even if you are an entry-level candidate with no experience but with the right skills needed for the job, you can consider us as your personal agent to help you find a job. iOS can help you with our extensive networks of call center companies looking for people like you. Let us help you look for ideal call center jobs for you.