Customer Service Interview Questions to Ask

When you’re hiring a customer service representative you need to find someone you can trust to represent your business to customers and clients. It’s essential for a customer service representative to have strong communication, problem-solving, and time-management skills. They also need to be able to collaborate with other representatives and members of your team and learn about new products or services quickly. After writing and posting your customer service representative job description, you’re ready to meet the candidates. Here are some insightful customer service interview questions you can ask to find the right person for the job.

Background Questions

Make the candidate feel at ease by starting with easy-to-answer questions. For example, you may want to ask:

• Tell me about yourself.
• Tell me about a professional accomplishment you’re proud of.
• What do you like most about working in customer service?
• What made you want to apply to this position and our company?
• What do you know about our products or services?

Skills and Experience Questions

Next, ask for more details about the candidate’s skills and experience. Keep in mind that a candidate who doesn’t have all of the skills and credentials you want might be a good fit for the job if they are a fast learner and have a strong work ethic. You may want to ask:

• Walk me through your resume.
• What customer service software do you use?
• How many customers do you typically help in one day?
• Do you handle phone calls, emails, and chats?
• What are your favorite and least favorite responsibilities?

Situational and Behavioral Questions

Behavioral interview questions require candidates to reflect on how they’ve used a skill in their current or past jobs. Situational interview questions encourage candidates to discuss how they’d handle situations they are likely to face if they are hired.

• What is your process for helping a customer? Walk me through a recent customer issue.
• Tell me about a time you resolved a difficult customer issue. How did you solve it?
• What would you do to de-escalate a situation if you’re dealing with an angry customer?
• How would you sell me one of our products or services?
• Why should we hire you?

Start Asking These Customer Service Interview Questions

Now that you know some effective customer service interview questions to ask, you’re ready to start the hiring process. Reach qualified customer service representatives quickly with a free job posting on Monster.