Get Hired in a Call Center
All call centers have some commonalities- they are fast paced; they are busy, noisy and require multi-tasking. Most obviously, they sound like a lot of talking. What you may not hear is the listening. In a call center environment, listening skills are priority. As an agent, if you cannot hear what the caller is saying, you cannot proceed effectively in the call. Whether it is a complaint or a thank you, the customer is providing you with the necessary information to be successful and to make your department successful. Demonstrate your listening skills along with the following in an interview and you are sure to be offered the position.
Individual skills:
Patience and tolerance will be a required skill for every call that you take. For an interview, especially in a complaint center environment, be prepared to give examples of a particularly trying situation, how you were able to smooth the situation and calm the customer to promote effective communication.
Problem solving or resolution skills may be the main focus of your duties. Again, examples of a particularly difficult situation and how you were able to resolve it shows the prospective employer that you already possess and utilize this skill. Be sure to stress in your example that you were able to satisfy the customer within the guidelines of the company. This way the interviewer is at ease that you are able to negotiate and will not readily 'give away the store' to get out of a difficult situation.
Team skills:
You may realize the importance of communication skills when taking a call, but communication skills are an equally important part of working as a team. There are differences in the way people communicate. Your job here is to determine the best way to relay information or request assistance to or from a co-worker. This may require learning whether a contact prefers a phone call or an email or the best time of day to reach them.
When possible, it is advisable to be able to provide to a prospective employer documentation of previous accomplishments. These should be easy to obtain from current or prior employers. Most call centers have a method of tracking productivity for individual employees and can include this in a letter of recommendation. They may have information such as punctuality and time logs, the number of calls taken, average length of the calls, etc. If individual information is not available, ask for departmental statistics to show the effectiveness of the team that you were part of.
The ability to multi-task cannot be stressed enough. Call center environments almost always include more duties than answering the phone. Additional tasks may include providing verifications for the caller or others in your team, completing paperwork, or documenting the details of the call. Explain to you interviewer environments in which you have been required to perform a number of tasks simultaneously.
In a call center environment, it is easy to feel that it is just you and the customer and sort-of zone out the rest of the department activity. In fact, this is a skill, and a useful one to have. It is important in such a busy environment to be able to remain focused. Care should be taken not to lose site of the fact that you are part of a team who is working together for a common cause. Always be available and willing to pitch in and help a co-worker or to pick up the slack somewhere else. Show this willingness and the above skills to your interviewer and they will see you as the perfect fit for the job.
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