Position Name: Customer Service
Interviewer
Candidate Name
Interview Date
Introductory Questions
– Interviewer(s) share name, role, tenure, and hand business cards for thank you messages – Share a brief overview of the company
– Give Candidate the Job Description, highlight Job Purpose, Schedule/Travel, Major Challenges & Key Decisions, and Physical Requirements
Tell us about yourself.
What are your short and long-term professional goals?
Transitional & Verification Questions
– Clarify any unclear information from resume or application
– Verify availability for work hours and schedule, start date, and other important details
What interests you about this role?
What accomplishment on your resume are you most proud of?
Are you able to perform the essential functions of this position with or without reasonable accommodation?
Will you now or at any point in the future require visa sponsorship to work for us?
Technical Questions
– Ask job related questions, based on skills and competencies needed for the role
– Ask open ended questions that allow candidates to tell a story about a specific example
– Ask 5-10 questions based on the role and how much time you have (~3-4 minutes per question)
– Listen for recent examples, details, consistency, the candidate’s role in the story, and teamwork
– Take notes and ask clarifying questions as follow-ups
Can you tell me in general terms how your technical skills meet the requirements of this position? In which specific areas do you need to come up to speed?
What has given you the greatest sense of achievement at work and why?
Behavioral / Situational Questions
– Ask job related questions, based on skills and competencies needed for the role
– Ask open ended questions that allow candidates to tell a story about a specific example
– Ask 5-10 questions based on the role and how much time you have (~3-4 minutes per question)
– Listen for recent examples, details, consistency, the candidate’s role in the story, and teamwork
– Take notes and ask clarifying questions as follow-ups. Follow up questions may include:
- Tell us more about the action you took and the outcome.
- What did you say at that point?
- How did you react to that situation?
- Explain your role in more detail.
- Tell me in detail what steps you took.
- And what was the result?
- Describe the obstacles you faced in getting it done.
- What other options did you consider?
- Why do you think you reacted as you did?
- How do you think others felt about your actions at the time?
- Were you satisfied with the outcome of your actions?
- If the same or a similar situation presented itself, what would you do differently?
Adaptability
What is one of the most challenging changes you have faced at work? How did it impact you? What was the outcome?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Tell me about a situation where you were under a great deal of pressure because of numerous demands competing for your time and attention. How did you resolve the situation?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Communication
Describe your most recent conflict within a team setting because of a miscommunication and how you were able to solve it.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Customer Focused
What does the term “internal customer service” mean to you? Tell me about a time you demonstrated excellent internal customer service.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Describe a time when you successfully handled a customer complaint.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Critical Thinking
Describe for me a recent time when you needed to make a job-related decision but did not have all of the information you needed. How did you go about completing the task?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Emotional Intelligence
What do you do when you think someone is not listening to you? Give me an example of a time when that happened.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Judgement
Tell us about a mistake that you made, how you took ownership, and what steps you took to make it right.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Problem Solving
How has your approach to problem solving changed as you’ve progressed in your career?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Relationship Building
Describe a time when you removed a business obstacle for yourself or your team through deliberate relationship building efforts.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Time Management
What time management tools do you use?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
How do you structure your day? Your week?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Quality
What methods or techniques do you use to monitor the quality of your work? Give me an example of when using these methods enabled you to correct a problem or error that otherwise would not have been identified.
Situation:
Action:
Result:
Candidate’s Questions
– Be sure to leave time for their questions, generally 1-3
– Paint a positive but honest view of the pros and cons of the work and culture
Notes
Closing Questions
– Describe where you are in the process, next steps, and when they can expect to hear back
– Ask if they have any final remarks
What is one thing I should know about you that I haven’t asked?
What could you bring to this position that other candidates could not?
Interviewer Assessment
Enter your overall assessment about the candidate’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and fit for this position.
Would you recommend this candidate advance in the process?