The Top 3 Skills Call Centers are Looking for in their Next Hire

Despite the fact that the business process outsourcing (BPO) is booming in the Philippines and there are call centers left and right in the country’s major cities, doesn’t necessarily mean you can get in just like that.

The BPO industry wouldn’t rise here if Filipinos weren’t good at what they did so as a hire, there is a standard you are being tested against. Here are a few skills you have to brush up on and improve if you really want that job and more importantly, if you want to do the job well.

Communication

Nothing is more important than a call center agent’s communication skills. Skills needed for effective communication include the ability to listen and to speak in the language needed and to follow the proper grammar rules such as syntax and subject-verb agreement. These skills are key to effective communication.

(READ: Additionally, having a wide vocabulary is also a necessity for conversation. Companies also test the candidates’ ability to accurately assimilate and manipulate information from a variety of media such as audio prompts and written sources, simulating the call center environment. (READ: Call Center Applicants How-to’s: Improving your English Grammar, Speech)

Customer Engagement

Communicating properly is not the only skill a call center agent needs. Successful communication with a client requires empathy on the call center agent’s side. This is your ability to accurately judge a customer’s emotions and reply customer-centric responses and solutions.

Computer Fluency

When assessing a call center agent, companies factor in a candidate’s ability to work with technology, software and data. Your abilities to identify patterns, research on the web, and multitask using computer software are all on the spot here. More concretely, this means you have to know how to work with computers and do so with average to above-average typing speed, plus a high level of accuracy.

(READ: Call Center Applicants How-to’s: Improving your Learning Attitude)   If it’s a good, well-known call center, you can be certain that at least two of these skills are critical criteria they evaluate their next hire on. If you wanna sharpen some of the skills above, log on to Kalibrr and check out our user-friendly exercises. Any more questions? Let us know in the comments below.