What are Common Call Center Interview Questions?

Common call center interview questions tend to revolve around dealing with customers and getting along with co-workers as well as the applicant's reasons for wanting to work at a particular company. Call center jobs typically involve an investment in training employees, so most of these employers are interested in making sure an applicant will be a good fit in the organization before spending time and money to find out. The emphasis in call center interview questions is usually on an applicant's personality and behavior rather than his or her experience.

Of course, call center experience with solid references definitely helps applicants get the job, but that alone isn't enough for most interviewers in the industry. An experienced applicant may just want to fill in time working for the company before finding another call center position that may pay better because of his or her past industry work experience. Training is still often needed even for experienced call center workers because different companies work with different clients and products as well as specific marketing plans. With this in mind, one of the most common call center questions an employer will ask is what the applicant's career plan is.

The applicant's answer to that common question may reveal that the experienced call center employee has higher goals than the interviewer's company might be able to provide. Alternatively, the prospective employee with experience in the industry may explain to the interviewer how his or her career plan fits in with the company. Another one of the most common call center interview questions relates to the applicant's past work; he or she may be asked what strategies they used in dealing with difficult behaviors from customers and coworkers. The successful applicant will need to work closely with both kinds of people on the job, so any insight the interviewer can glean from the prospective call center employee in how he or she interacts with others is beneficial.

A call center interviewer may ask job applicants what people who know them would say their best and worst qualities are. This is one of the common call center interview questions that can also be very revealing to the employer as applicants are often caught off guard by it. Employers in most jobs also tend to ask applicants to tell them a little about themselves. They usually want to know what a prospective employee's passions, interests and hobbies are.

Interview questions about work habits are common in the call center industry as efficiency is typically stressed. The interviewer may want applicants to give him or her an example of their idea of efficiency in making or taking customer phone calls while at the same time providing top-notch service. Common call center interview questions often include the interviewer asking job applicants how well they communicate with customers under limited time constraints.