The document provides guidance for interviewing candidates for a customer service role. It includes sample questions to ask about a candidate's background, customer service skills, behaviors, and closing questions. The background section asks about previous work history and satisfactions/dissatisfactions. Customer service questions cover topics like call volume, learning curves, definitions of customer service. Behavioral questions address values, conflict resolution, stress management, decision making, teamwork, and more. Closing questions check flexibility, salary expectations, and availability.

1. Interviewing for Customer Service – a Working Session
Exercise
Job Description Characteristics
1. What background are we looking for?
2. What skills are we looking for?
3. What behaviors are we looking for?
4. Describe your favorite CSR/TSR (without names). What makes them good at this job and/or
good at being a teammate?
Mary Cruse mlcruse@gmail.com

2. Interviewing for Customer Service – a Working Session
Interview Questions
Once we know what we’re looking for, we need to agree on what questions to ask and which of us asks
them in order to make sure we cover all the necessary bases. Please review these questions and note
questions you particularly like or would want us to be sure we ask.
Background: (Select 2 questions you like the best)
1. What were major responsibilities in each position held?
2. What were the circumstances of movement between positions held?
3. What were the circumstances of movement between companies?
4. Why did you leave your last job? (This is similar to #3 and may be asked in a later interview if
someone else is doing screening and checking all the movement between companies.)
5. Why have/haven’t you held so many jobs in recent times?
6. Describe specific job assignments that you found satisfying or dissatisfying.
Or you can ask this question this way… Describe the job you have held in the past that was most
gratifying or most dissatisfying.
7. Based on how the job has been described (and the others you’ve spoken to), what is the most
important asset you would bring to the team?
Customer Service: (Select 4 questions you like the best)
1. In your busiest position, how many calls did you take in a day? (Alternative – how many tickets
did you take/close in a day?)
2. What position was the hardest for you to learn? How did you gain the knowledge in order to be
successful?
3. What is your definition of customer service?
4. Is the customer always right?
5. Why do you want to do customer service?
6. Tell me about a time when you had particularly good/poor customer service. What specifically
made it so?
7. What do you do with a customer who can’t be satisfied?
8. Tell me about a time when you went out of your way to meet a customer’s needs.
Mary Cruse mlcruse@gmail.com

3. 9. Describe a time when you didn’t handle a customer as well as you could have. What happened?
What was the result? What would you do differently if you could do it over?
Behavioral: (select 8 questions you like the best)
1. CULTURE - What personal values do you bring to the workplace?
2. CONFLICT - Tell me about a time when you didn’t agree with a policy or procedure. What did
you do?
3. STRESS - What causes you stress/frustration on the job and when you feel that stress/frustration
coming on, what do you do to make it go away?
4. CULTURE/TEAM ALIGNMENT – Think of your favorite manager. What qualities made them
excel in their ability to lead? Give examples of how they used these qualities in a way that was
best for you.
5. DECISION MAKING - Tell me about a time when a customer demanded you do something that
you know you weren’t authorized to do, yet you agreed with what they wanted. What did you
do?
6. DECISION MAKING – How do you go about making important decisions?
7. DECISION MAKING/TEAMWORK/POSITIVE ENVIRONMENT – Tell me about a time
when you had to support a decision or goal you didn’t agree with. What were the circumstances
and what did you do.
8. TEAMWORK – Give me an example of how you have shared your functional or technical
knowledge with others.
9. TEAMWORK – What is your definition of a team (get them to go beyond the standard response
of “a group of people working toward a common goal”)? Do you all have to be friends to work
effectively? If no, how do you work with people you aren’t friends with?
10. TEAMWORK – What approach do you use to openly discuss issues with others on your team?
Give me an example of when you did this and the results.
11. TEAMWORK – Tell me about the most successful team you have been on. What made it so
successful?
12. RESULTS ORIENTATION – Tell me about a time when you wanted to give up but didn’t.
How did you stay motivated and keep your focus on the goal?
13. RESULTS ORIENTATION – How is your performance currently measured? What criteria are
you help accountable for?
14. RESULTS ORIENTATION – What aspects of your job do you consider most crucial?
Mary Cruse mlcruse@gmail.com

4. 15. RESULTS ORIENTATION – What is your definition of success? How have you been
successful in the past?
16. MULTITASK ABILITY – How well can you multi-task? Describe to me a situation that shows
you performing at that level.
17. INTEGRITY – Tell me about a time when you saw something going on in the workplace that
was unfair to someone. What did you see? What did you do?
18. INTEGRITY/TEAMWORK – Tell me about a time when someone you worked with made a
mistake. What did you do?
19. INTERPERSONAL/CONFLICT – Tell me about a difficult situation with another person. How
did you handle it?
20. INTERPERSONAL/CONFLICT – What has been your biggest challenge in working with
others?
21. INTERPERSONAL – Think of the best people you know at relationship building. What makes
them the best?
22. INTERPERSONAL/MATURITY – How do you maintain your composure when you are in the
hot seat?
23. MATURITY – How do you like to receive criticism? How do you usually handle criticism?
24. MATURITY – In your current/last position, what has been your greatest learning experience?
(See if they can get past the technical skills and talk about personal development.)
25. MATURITY/DECISION MAKING – Give me an example of a time when you feel you used
good judgment. What was the outcome?
26. SELF MOTIVATION/PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT – In a previous performance review,
describe an area requiring improvement and what you did to improve in that area.
27. SELF MOTIVATION/PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT – There is much to learn in this position.
Describe the different things you would do to learn the technical information for this job.
28. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT – What professional affiliations do you have? Why did
you get involved and what are you doing in those organizations?
29. OPEN ENDED – What do you like to do when you are not at work?
30. OPEN ENDED – Tell me something about yourself that I wouldn’t know from reading your
resume?
MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS
1. SELF MOTIVATION/INITIATIVE - Describe a situation in which you demonstrated
independent initiative.
2. LEADERSHIP FLEXIBILITY - Describe a time when you had to alter your leadership style to
be more effective.
Mary Cruse mlcruse@gmail.com

5. 3. LEADERSHIP STYLE - Describe the situation in which you are most comfortable as a leader.
4. MANAGEMENT 101 - What’s the difference between management and leadership? ….can also
be asked…How would you describe your philosophy about management?
5. MANAGEMENT 101 - Describe your management style. Describe your leadership style. (you
need to look for the difference.)
6. INTERVIEWING STYLE/DISCERNMENT - Have you ever hired anyone? What qualities do
you seek?
7. LEADERSHIP MATURITY - Have you managed people in any of the positions you have held?
8. LEADERSHIP MATURITY - How do you deal with difficult people?
9. LEADERSHIP MATURITY - How do you deal with poor performers?
10. LEADERSHIP/VISION - How would you define leadership (different from defining their own
leadership style)? How would you rate yourself as a leader?
11. DECISION MAKING - Tell me about a time that you made a critical decision without
supervision?
12. PRIORITIZATION - Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a challenging project in
your job?
Closing: (Select 2 questions you like the best)
1. Flexibility – Shifts are set and don’t change very often. When they do, we strive to give at least
2 weeks’ notice. However, there may be times when OT is needed with very short notice.
Would this be a problem for you?
2. Salary expectations.
3. Availability – how much notice would you need to give your current employer?
4. Tell me what you want me to remember about you?
Mary Cruse mlcruse@gmail.com

6. Mary Cruse mlcruse@gmail.com