help with interview please

lukesmom

I've an interview for a job next week. It's a part time position and I've not worked in 14 years as I stayed at home with my kids. I've not had an interview in so long I really haven't a clue what they could ask me. It's a customer service role. Any tips would be appreciated.

Donal55

lukesmom wrote: »

I've an interview for a job next week. It's a part time position and I've not worked in 14 years as I stayed at home with my kids. I've not had an interview in so long I really haven't a clue what they could ask me. It's a customer service role. Any tips would be appreciated.

Read up on the company.
Have 1/2 examples which show you in a positive, winning role.
Have 1/2 examples of you as a team player.
Good luck.

Jimbob1977

Some pointers:

Know about the company. How many employees? What products or services it delivers? Its values and ethics (most companies have a Mission Statement or Credo now). How long at its current location? Bring up major positive news stories at the interviews... jobs expansion, awards, etc


Competency based interview.... tell us about a time you were forced to make a key decision? Tell us about your ability to work in a team.


If your friends were to describe you, what adjectives would they use? The answer is usually generic..... diligent, hard-working, conscientious, honest, team player, etc.

Because it's a Customer Care role, you need to focus on giving the customer a quality service and retaining them. As well as fixing their problem in a timely manner.

Cross selling.... customer phone up about Package X and you end up selling them Package Y and earn more for the company.


Don't overanalyse. Answer the question they ask. Sometimes people overprepare and lose their natural style if an unexpected question is asked. Get a family member to perform a practice interview. Don't go easy on you. Pick your CV apart.


I've never worked in Customer Care myself as it doesn't suit my personality. However, most people in the area are talkative and extrovert sorts.

Good luck!

PMBC

Donal55 wrote: »

Read up on the company.
Have 1/2 examples which show you in a positive, winning role.
Have 1/2 examples of you as a team player.
Good luck.

Can you find someone, on here or through friends, who works in Customer Services? If so find out from them what the job is about and then pitch your answers to meet the job's needs i.e. good at dealing with people, patience but not unbounded, problem solving- I have only a vague idea; think of ordinary things you do everyday or you did before marriage and find ideas that fir those job needs; also it might be in the job specification/as advertised i.e. what you will be doing. Using knowledge of the job and of the employer is a good start. Anyone who can run and mange a house, particularly with children, will be more than able for that job, in my opinion. You can stress your ability and experience at multi-tasking, budgeting, procurement (as in shopping for best value), dealing with multiple people i.e. children and husband, repair men, refuse collectors, catering, time management etc. Id expect a question on why you are now going back to work, children reared, need more fulfillment, money for children's education would all be very acceptable.
Best of luck this week and let us know how you got on.

Loveinapril

In customer service, there will be a lot around challenges. I worked on a supermarket customer service desk many years ago and one of the major things I dealt with were irate customers. Prepare answers to the competency based questions like "tell me about a time when you dealt with challenging behaviour/ demanding person. Experience in time management/ team work/ had to deliver a difficult decision" etc.

lukesmom

Thanks everybody a lot of good advice there which I will follow. It's an invigilator role in a test centre. It does mention customer care in the job specification advert.

Turtle_

lukesmom wrote: »

Thanks everybody a lot of good advice there which I will follow. It's an invigilator role in a test centre. It does mention customer care in the job specification advert.

Stressed out students melting down during the exam
Students who ask questions you can't answer
Students who become unwell during exam
Students caught cheating
Calculator not working and best friend has a spare- can they borrow it?!
Student filled out the answer sheet the wrong way and wants extra time to fill it out correctly

They're all things I came across as an invigilator. I've also been the student in 1, 2, 3 & 5. Other than dealing with those types of scenarios, the other things related to that role would be the importance of being quick to distribute the paper, attentive to when students need extra materials, and very attentive to detail when students hand up their scripts - has everything on the cover been filled out? Have they handed everything up? Have they signed the sheet to say how many booklets they're handing up? That sorta thing.

Dragon101

always a fair few questions at the end. think of more than 2 as they might get answered during the interview. it always makes the end very flat if you say you don't have any.
think of a "positive fault" you have also in case you get that smarty pants Q

lukesmom

I got the job!

Graham

lukesmom wrote: »

I got the job!

What a nice post to start the weekend on. Congratulations.

Stheno

lukesmom wrote: »

I got the job!

Congrats!

Spanish Eyes

lukesmom wrote: »

I got the job!

Congratulations! You must be so happy.

Maybe you might be willing to share (in general of course!) the type of interview questions you were asked and the flow of it. To help others.

Best of luck with it.

lukesmom

Yeah delighted. It was two people interviewing me the hr manager and district manager. I've a lot of office administration on my cv but to be honest it was the tesco role from 20 years ago they were most interested in!

They asked me about myself and my previous jobs etc.
They explained the position and what kind of person they were looking for and to be honest they knew from my cv I was a good fit. It was more like a general conversation rather than hitting me with questions although they did ask me what I knew about the company and I was very glad I had researched it. He joked that I described it better than he ever could.