What Is the Work of Call Center Agent

10 Tips to Help You Get a Job at a Call Center

CC BY 2.0/statefarm/flickr

So, you have aspirations to work at a call center? Here are some things you should know to help make your job hunt a successful one.

Telemarketing Call Centers

To have a successful career at a call center, you must have good people skills. Employers want to know how you will handle difficult situations, such as when an irate person starts yelling or hangs up on you. They will need to know that you can stay calm under pressure.

CC BY 2.0/aquamech-utah/flickr

Education Requirements

Call center employers will likely require you to have a high school diploma at a minimum. However, more people entering the field have bachelor's degrees, so to be competitive with other prospective employees, it may be prudent to pursue higher education.

CC BY-SA 2.0/125497459@N03/flickr

Good Listening Skills

An employer needs to know that you have good listening skills. This job will require active listening — not interrupting the customer, trying to understand what they are asking and what it is that they want and asking good, probing questions. You may have some sort of script to read from, but you don't want to sound robotic.

CC BY 2.0/tbisaacs/flickr

Flexibility

Depending on the company who you will be fielding calls for, it's possible that the call center may be open 24 hours a day. How flexible is your schedule? Would you be willing to work the overnight shift? The more flexible your schedule, the more appealing you are to prospective employers.

CC BY 2.0/tonythemisfit/flickr

Computer Experience

You'll need to have at least some basic knowledge of computers to work at a call center. You should be familiar programs like Word and Excel and be able to type quickly as you will be entering information while listening to someone on the other end of the line. You might be asked to take a typing test before being offered the job.

CC0/Free-Photos/pixabay

Compensation

Be sure you understand what the pay structure is for employees. Some businesses pay a flat fee per hour. If the call center is sales-oriented, you may be paid a smaller base salary and earn the bulk of your pay through commissions. If you're not comfortable with not having a reliable source of income, you may want to rethink your career choice.

CC BY 2.0/orphanjones/flickr

Ability to Hit Goals

Most call centers are metrics-focused, meaning employees are responsible for hitting certain goals every day. This may include number of sales made, number of calls taken, amount of talk time and more. The job-specific metrics should be discussed during the interview process, and a potential employer will need to feel comfortable in the knowledge that you understand the goals and that you have the drive to hit them.

CC0/gabrielle_cc/pixabay

Multitasking Ability

How good are you at handling many things at once? At a call center, you'll be expected to do just that. You can to listen to a caller, while entering information and thinking what to say, with other employees speaking at the same time around you and maybe having to search for the answer to a caller's question — all at the same time.

CC BY 2.0/andrewmalone/flickr

Personality Tests

Be prepared to take a personality test and/or a competency exam to give employers a better idea of who you are. To be successful in this business, there are certain essential personality traits that an employer will want to know that you embody.

cc BY-SA 2.0/knittymarie/flickr

Can You Take Criticism?

For the first few weeks after training, your phone calls will be monitored by a supervisor. It's their job to not only point out the strengths but, more importantly, highlight your weaknesses and give you direction as to how can you improve. How well do you take criticism from others? Will you feel comfortable knowing that someone may be listening to and evaluating your calls?

CC0/DT/pixabay

More From QuestionsAnswered.net

What Is the Work of Call Center Agent

Source: https://www.questionsanswered.net/article/10-tips-help-you-get-job-call-center?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740012%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex

Share this post