Call Center Job Interview Tips
Like any other employees, we at the call center industry also underwent a preliminary job interview and a final interview (and in some cases; a semi-final interview in between). Well, what do you expect? You are applying for a job that requires some serious talking, and what better ways to look into your qualifications if not by letting you talk? And by talking, I mean, by speaking American English (since most call centers offer American accounts). So before taking the plunge, ask yourself, “Do I speak passable American English (I don’t mean the accent)? “If the answer is yes, then you are up for a good start. Bad news is, it doesn’t end there. Your opinion about how well you speak the language during the interview doesn’t count as much as the opinion of the interviewer. So you need to do well, really well.
Here are some things and tips that you need to consider before taking a call center job interview. This might just be able to help you get the nod of the recruiter, so read on.
- If you plan to come as a walk in applicant, it is preferable that you apply in the morning. Come early. This could save you a lot of trouble. By coming early, you save yourself the trouble of falling in line, waiting for your turn to be interviewed, avoid the traffic rush and have enough time to rest and relax before the actual interview. Rushing and waiting could be stressful. Stress combined with pressure is not something that will help you pass the interview. The more relax you are, the more confident you appear. During a call center interview, confidence could spell the difference between getting the job and coming back for another interview after 6 months.
- Bring a pocket book or buy yourself a newspaper or any reading material (as long as it is in English) and bring it along with you when applying. A reading material could come handy while waiting for your turn. It will give you something to do, just incase you came too early or when the recruiters arrive to work late (which always happen to some centers by the way). Aside from that, reading a good English book could put your brains into English mode. It will be easier for you to put your thoughts directly to an English word when you are ready for it mentally.
- Don’t easily get intimidated. Easier said than done, right? There are some centers, especially the ones that are getting high volume of applicant day –in and day-out that conducts initial interview via group discussion. This is when they would call for five or more applicants and interview them as a group. The questions are pretty much the same for everyone. The recruiter asks the second, the third and the last applicant the same questions he asked the first applicant. Then it should be easy for the other guys to answer the questions because it they will have enough time to formulate their answers, right? Wrong! I have seen applicants fold under pressure because of this type of interview. When they hear other applicants speak really well, they get intimidated; they wither and seem to have lost their tongues. As I have mentioned on item number one; confidence is everything. The more confident you are, the better your chances in landing the job.
- Organize your thoughts and present it as confident as you could. I will be including a list of the most commonly questions asked during a call center job interview in this page soon. I hope it will help.
- Speak slowly. Sometimes we misinterpret fast talking as fluency. Nope, that is not the case. Americans speak an average of 130 words per minute. Try timing yourself while you are reading something. One minute is a long time, Since we Filipinos are use to speaking fast English then try slowing down, if you are speaking uncomfortably slow (so long as it is not ssoooo ssslloooowww) then you are pacing yourself right. And this is a good thing, if you speak slowly, the more that you could organize your thoughts and would allow you to be mindful of your fillers (more of it on the next item) and control them, pronounce the words properly (if needed), speak clearly.
- Remember; the recruiter is looking for weakness on you grammar and accent. If you have a regional accent like I did, practice neutralizing it. Be mindful of the uhhm and aahhs, don’t stutter. Fillers are okay so long as they don’t become a nuisance by constant repetition. Remember that even Americans also use fillers when they are speak, especially when they can’t find the right words. If you could present your thought in such a way that you don’t use fillers such as the uhhm and aahhs, the better. But if you can’t help but commit a few, don’t worry about it as long as it is really “a few”.
The list could go on forever . There is really no perfect blueprint in landing a call center job. This list as I have mentioned in the beginning of this article is a list of some things to remember before taking a call center Job Interview, yet this is not everything. So before applying and scheduling yourself for an interview, make sure that you have the right mental setup and that you really want the job.
Happy Job Hunting.
