Vervoe

How To Hire a Call Center Agent

Customer Service

Complete with job descriptions, skill profiles, and interview templates. Use this Call Center Agent hiring guide to help you make the right decisions, fast.

CALL CENTER AGENT RECRUITMENT GUIDE

What does a Call Center Agent do?

Call centers give customers of your business a direct communication channel for service inquiries. Customers can prefer this method of support because it is more immediate and personalized than email or chatbot service.

Usually, a call center agent will answer incoming customer calls, respond to emails, and operate chat systems. This contact might be for placing orders, general inquiries, inbound/outbound sales, or to report complaints. Call center agents are the primary contact for customers who use your product or service.

Day to day tasks of a Call Center Agent

  • Manage large amounts of incoming calls from customers
  • Appropriately respond to customer inquiries using communication scripts
  • Research, identify, and resolve customer issues, escalating when necessary
  • Provide product/service information to customers
  • Identify when to upsell products/services to existing customers
  • Maintain records of customer conversations
Recruitment guide role overview illustration

CALL CENTER AGENT DEFINITION

A Call Center Agents’ primary responsibility is to provide customer service, resolve issues, and ensure customer satisfaction. Because of this, they require key skills that enable them to be able to connect with customers in a variety of circumstances.

Role definition illustration

HIRING PROCESS

Call Center Agent Hiring Process

STEP 1

Build the Ideal Candidate Profile​

To find the best person for the role, you need to understand what the role involves. You can complete this with the hiring manager to define the role, its contribution, and the skills needed.

STEP 2

Write A Job Description Based On Skills

Once you understand the requirements for the role, you’ll need to understand the skills for success. You can then write an effective job description to promote your role.

STEP 3

Selecting The Ideal Candidate

See which applicants have the right skills for the role. Send all your applicants a Vervoe skills assessment from the expert library, or customize one for your organization.

STEP 4

Interview Top Performers

Your skills assessment results will identify top performers. Focus your time on interviewing those that have met or exceeded your requirements. Assessment results will also help guide which skill areas to focus on in the interview.

STEP 5

Making An Offer

Once you assess your candidates against these skills, you’re ready to offer the top performer(s). You should base your offer on the value that the candidate would bring to your team and your business as a whole. It is also important to ensure your compensation and benefits packages are competitive in the industry and help you attract and retain the top talent.

Customer Service sector illustration

BUILD THE IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE

Skills needed for a Call Center Agent

A call center agent must be customer-focussed and empathetic. Because each call is different, a call center agent needs to have skills in resilience and learning agility. They must also have exceptional written and verbal communication skills.

  • Customer Centricity
  • Resilience
  • Learning Agility
  • Attention to Detail

WRITE A JOB DESCRIPTION BASED ON SKILLS

How to write a Call Center Agent job description

Once you’ve determined the skills required for the role, you can write the job description to advertise for your position. Here’s what to include in your Call Center Agent job description:

Job Title
What position are you hiring for?
Summary
What makes your company unique? What would it be like to work for you?
Responsibilities
An overview of the role’s day-to-day activities, and how the position contributes to the organization
Requirements
Skills a candidate must have to perform the job successfully
Benefits
Details of compensation, benefits, and any perks on offer
Use our sample Call Center Agent job description
Job description checklist illustration

SELECTING THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

Sample skill tests for a Call Center Agent

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Question 1

Attention to Detail

Question Type: Text

Please listen to the below call and summarize the key pieces of information.

Question 2

Customer Centricity

Question Type: Audio

You are a call center representative at an e-commerce company. A customer called you and yelled, "I am so disappointed at my recent experience with your company, and I will never shop on your website again!"If you can ask 3 questions to understand and help this customer, which questions will you ask? Please record your answer.

Question 3

Resilience

Question Type: Text

It’s been a demanding day for you in the call center. You were on back-to-back calls all day and customers are expressing negative feelings such as disappointment and frustration. You tried to stay calm but you hardly had time to breathe. A customer is currently complaining about an issue and personally blaming you for the issue.Please tell us what you will do and why.

INTERVIEW TOP PERFORMERS

How to interview a Call Center Agent

Once your Vervoe skills assessment has surfaced the most qualified people for your open role, you can focus on interviewing these candidates. The interview should focus on any skills that require development that were highlighted from the skills assessment.

Now you know that candidates can do the job, the interview becomes more of a relationship building exercise where you can get to know the candidate on a more personal level, understand their motivations, and how they would fit in with the team.

MAKING AN OFFER

How much does it cost to hire a Call Center Agent?

Call center agents generally receive a base salary and performance-based commissions if there is a sales element to the role. For those without sales KPIS, the range in salary is from $30,000 - $70,000 in the United States. This encompasses everything from inbound service, appointment setting, and collections.

United States

Call Centre Agent salaries in the United States range from $20,000 - $60,000 (USD). Call Centre Agent salaries in the U.S vary a lot depending on the industry and the nature of the calls that agents are taking, as well as the location.

Source: Source: Hays US Salary Guide 2020

United Kingdom

Call Centre Agent salaries in the United Kingdom range from £18,000 - £60,000 (GBP). Call Centre Agent salaries in the UK vary largely based on location and depend on the type of call center and the nature of the calls that agents are taking.

Source: Source: Hays UK Salary Guide 2020

Australia

Call Centre Agent salaries in Australia range from $46,000 - $65,000 (AUD). Call Centre Agent salaries usually depend on the type of call center and the nature of the calls that agents are taking, as well as industry, location, and commission structure (if applicable).

Source: Source: Hays Australia and New Zealand Guide 2020