Andrea has asked me to query the hive mind for these questions I am being asked in applying for a position at a credit union (ours, btw) call center.
1. What inspires you to want to work at [credit union] and how does this align with your values and career aspirations?
2. Describe a time where you did something unexpected for someone you did not know. What did you do and what was the outcome?
3. What do you feel is the difference between customer service and building relationships? Please explain.
4. From your experience, what situations did you find it difficult to adapt to? Please explain.
Any suggestions for the responses? Pitfalls? Grabbers?
#2 and #4 seem the biggest minefields.
And people said essay questions wouldn't come up in real life...
I started reading that and my brain fuzzed out into Peanuts Grown Up Voice "honk honk honk".
Which I take as evidence that it is likely correct. Good job, bt!
For #4 just make sure you follow what you had trouble adapting to with what you did to change that/adapt/not have that problem in the future. That's key.
bt! That is great. I understood, maybe half of it. But, it's the end of the work day, so, brain. not fully working.
For #1, research the company and look at how they see themselves and reflect that back to them. I might mention the fact that they are asking for thoughtful responses about service as proof that they truly see people as individuals worth of respect and that something you believe strongly in.
the way to answer the questions is based on what they want to learn .
for a basic example - the difficult customer question - the answer shoudl be something about understanding that 1) customers have bad days 2) you have bad days 30 nothing is personal and 4) there is always the possibility of asking for help
so for 2 - I might talk about a time when you helped a coworker with something that wasn't your responsibility, but did x for them and unexpectedly y for the customer . Or a volunteer experience. bonus for a CS twist
and for 4 I'd stick to something really basic and common - but probably related to a learned people skill ( I always hated to repeat myself - but over the years I learned that if I slow down and make sure that I am not losing my audience I 'm less fustrated and so is the customer )
Daniel, since my recollection is that you have call center experience, you may want to answer questions 2 and 4 in that context because that will give you a chance to talk up your prior experience in the job they want to fill. For example, identify something about the call center experience that was originally difficult for you but that you worked through or something unexpected you did for a caller that helped the individual or created a good outcome for your employer...
...unless, of course, I'm mis-remembering what you previously did, in which case ignore me.
Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone!
It's mighty quiet in here lately. I've been massively preoccupied with work stuff so, have contributed to the quiet by being very grey.
So. I'll kick off this morning by saying that I have successfully completed two major projects for the pet care company...projects we've been working on for two full years...and I'm pretty thrilled with them.
The new website, based on my design, is gorgeous and functional and bright. The franchising process, which was SO much more complex than I could have imagined, is off to a great start.
Also, as of this morning, I have taken off 20 of the 30 lbs I gained after Bartleby died. And, I escaped the winter with zero illnesses. Unprecedented!
Oh, and Weeds...the tv show. I never watched it until this week and am enjoying having it on Netflix autoplay while working.
Focusing on the positive today.
I'm hoping good things are happening with you as well.
So, last night, just after the DH and I made some sweet sexytimes, I asked him, "Will you still want to have sex with me when I'm old?" He looked at me with great love and said "You ARE old." Made me laugh really hard. I know of nowhere else I could share that story but here in Bitches.
