Behavioral Telephone Customer Service Representative Interview Questions & Answers:

1. How do you propose to compensate for your lack of experience?

The first thing you should do is discuss experience you have the interviewer is unfamiliar with. Once that is detailed, tell the person conducting the interview that you are able to learn new tasks and information in a reasonable period of time and possess a strong work ethic. However, only state this if you can live up to these expectations.

2. You notice there are too many non productive internal meetings being held, what do you do?

Reach out to your boss and let him know that first you value his leadership and organization but that you are being overwhelmed with the amount of non productive internal meetings.

3. What are the goals you've set for yourself?

You could discuss your goals with regards to these categories: Career goals, impact you want to leave on society, financial goals, academic goals, charitable goals.

4. What would you do if you won the lottery?

The interviewer is asking this question to find out what your true passion is. Ideally it aligns to the type of work you're interviewing for. If not, tie it back in terms of how it relates to the job, for example, "I believe I'll learn the necessary skills in this job to pursue my passion later on in life."

5. If you could do it all over again, how would you plan your academic studies differently?

Whatever you do, just don't act bitter. A lot of times we wish we could change the past, but focus on the positive reasons and results of the decisions you already made.

6. What do you see yourself doing within the first 30 days of this job?

Typically the first 30 days are designed for you to learn as much as possible As Telephone Customer Service Representative. Work hard to get to know your teammates, how they work together, and how you can make the biggest impact.

7. What do you do in your spare time?

If you want to show your fun side, discuss your extracurricular activities. If you want to show your ambition, discuss the work / school projects you do in your spare time.

8. What would your previous employer say is your greatest strength?

Be prepared for this question. If you have to sit and think about it it's going to appear as if you're not sure or that you've never identified your own value in the work place - not good. You don't have to have a complex response. Keep it simple and honest. For example, several possibilities could be Leadership, Problem solving ability, Initiative, Energy, Work ethic, Innovative, etc., etc.

9. Do you ever take work home with you?

Here are two great sample answers that might help get you started:

☛ I am an extremely organized person, so I tend to be able to get my work done at work. However, if the need arose I would not be against taking work home. I try not to make it a habit, since I do value my free time. I do realize though that the work we do is important, and sometimes you have to do what needs to be done.
☛ I do not shy away from taking work home with me. I know that meeting deadlines and doing outstanding work sometimes means taking a bit of it home. I do not have a problem doing that when the need arises.
☛ Make sure to give an honest answer. Lying about taking work home may turn out badly for you if it is required and you do not do it.

10. What is the difference between a big ego and a healthy ego?

"Ego" should be replaced by confidence. It's good to be confident as it shows that you know what you're doing. However, a big ego is when confidence spirals out of control and you become arrogant.

11. What are you looking for in a new position As Telephone Customer Service Representative?

I've been honing my skills As Telephone Customer Service Representative for a few years now and, first and foremost, I'm looking for a position where I can continue to exercise those skills. Ideally the same things that this position has to offer. Be specific.

12. How would your references describe you?

Think of three major characteristics that demonstrate your best qualities related to work and then have quick stories to describe why.

13. Tell me about yourself?

There are some questions that your potential employer aren't allowed to ask (but trust me, they probably want to). For instance, they shouldn't really ask about your family or how far away you live from your potential place of employment. If you can find a way to answer these questions anyway (with the answers they want to hear), that will give them a little added info to help them make the (right) decision!

14. What relevant work experience do you have in this career field As Telephone Customer Service Representative?

Talk about specific work related experience for the position you're interviewing for. Make sure the experience is relevant. Don't talk about previous experience that is not related to the position in question. If you don't have specific career related experience speak about prior experience that has helped you develop the specific knowledge and skills required for the position you are applying for.

15. Why did you select the University _______?

Discuss the academic program, the extracurricular program(s), the school spirit, the quality of your peers, and the professors.

16. What have you done to improve your skills over the past year As Telephone Customer Service Representative?

You'll want to be prepare with some very specific examples of what you've done over the last year and what you're currently doing to improve your professional knowledge and skill set as well as anything else you're doing the shows self improvement.

17. How do you keep others informed on work issues?

Possible methods:
Talking to them, emailing them, sharing best practices in meetings

18. Tell me about a time when you successfully handled a situation?

For this question, the interviewer wants to know what you do in a situation that doesn't have a clear answer. This will help the interviewer know how you respond to unforeseen challenges.

19. Do you work well within a team?

Some people are thrown when they are asked this Telephone Customer Service Representative question when they are applying for a position to work alone. Every company works as a team, so you are a good team player, give an example of when you have worked well within a team.

20. Describe a time when you put your needs aside to help a co-worker understand a task. How did you assist them? What was the result?

The key is to show that the mentoring of a co-worker was first a higher priority than the task you had at hand (remember, you want to show that you focus on highest priority tasks first). Then, describe in detail how you helped them not only complete the task but learn to do it on their own. You want to teach them HOW to fish and not to simply fish for them.

21. Describe to me a time where you had to make a hard decision As Telephone Customer Service Representative?

Hard decisions are hard for a reason. It could dramatically effect the company. It could affect other workers. So if you have a story about how you made a hard decision and had a good outcome, share that. If you have one where the outcome wasn't great, explain how you would have changed the way you approached the decision to show you learned how to improve.

22. What does success mean to you?

I am punctual, I always have excellent attendance on any job As Telephone Customer Service Representative, I have a keen eye for both large and small details, and I am always finding ways to improve a process and shorten the length of time it takes to complete a project.

23. What is your biggest regret to date and why?

Describe honestly the regretful action / situation you were in but then discuss how you proactively fixed / improved it and how that helped you to improve as a person/worker.

24. Give me a few examples of how you're results oriented?

Make you give an example where you discuss details and metrics. For example, I was a tutor in my last job and mentored 5 students on their SAT test taking skills and raised their scores by 15% on average after a 3 month teaching stint.

25. Why did you choose your major in college or tech school?

People usually choose their major based on their passions or the career path they want to head towards.

26. How will you approach learning this "new" job As Telephone Customer Service Representative?

Interview peers and leaders/managers, read industry news, practice the skill sets needed, absorb information on the job as much as possible.

27. Describe a time when you've been overwhelmed with work?

Show how you were able to over the "overwhelmed" feeling - by delegating tasks, getting people on your team to help you out, or by prioritizing your work and focusing on the most important issues first As Telephone Customer Service Representative.

28. What is your biggest fear?

Don't try to sugarcoat the answer by listing something ambitious as a fear, unless you truly mean it (for example: I fear being a great leader) - Share your real fears but discuss how you would overcome them.

29. What do you aspire to be?

Discuss your aspirations for the near, immediate and long term. You want to show them you are thinking of making an impact now as well as the future.

30. What are your thoughts on failure?

Failure happens. It's a part of life. The key is understanding that you can't be perfect at everything and more importantly you're going to learn from failures to come out stronger.