Customer Service Sales

BPO interview questions and answers

Tell us something about yourself?

This is usually the first question you would face in any interview. The basic purpose of this question is to start the communication and put the candidate to ease. This is the simplest but the trickiest question as you can take the interview in whichever direction you want through this question.

To answer this question, start with some information about your family back ground, educational qualifications and work experience. Focus on the things you have learnt during your last employments. How would you describe yourself as a person?

The main purpose of this question is to see if you have some of those qualities which employers look for in their employees like – dedicated, performance oriented, hard working, creative etc. So, pick one of your qualities which employers are willing to buy and offer it as an answer. What according to you is a BPO?

BPO stands for Business Process Outsourcing. When a company decides to outsource some of its non-core work processes to another company with expertise in it, it is called Business Process Outsourcing.

What are the different types of BPOs?

BPOs can majorly be divided into following categories based on the jobs they perform: a.) Administrative Department

b.) Purchase Department

c.) Selling Department

d.) Call Centre

e.) Back Office

Why do companies outsource their work?

There are mainly four reasons for a company to outsource its work: a.) Cost saving

b.) Focus on core activities

c.) Access to special enterprise who has expertise in the domain. d.) Other resource related reasons like relieving resource constraints, reducing IT staff and augmenting IT staff .

What are voice based BPOS?

Voice based BPOs are those BPOs where you are required to talk to the customers. It may be for sales or support or service or anything else. The focus of business here is “Voice”. What do you mean by non-voice based BPOs?

Non-voice based BPOs are the BPOs which perform the outsourced work for their clients but do not need to interact with the client’s customers. The focus here is on “utilizing knowledge” rather than the “voice”.

What is off-shore outsourcing?

When a work process is out-sourced to a different country which is not nearby – it is called off- shore outsourcing. For e.g. If USA outsources a work process to India- it is off-shore outsourcing.

What is a call centre?

Call centres are voice based BPOs. These are usually used for sales, customer service or support activities..

What do you mean by following?

a.) Inbound call centre - Inbound call centres are the call centres which receive calls on behalf of their client – usually the support or customer service centres fall in this category. b.) Outbound call centre – Outbound call centres are the call centres which make calls on behalf of their clients – usually the sales calls.

What is the difference between a BPO and a call centre? Call centre is a subset of BPO.

What attracts you towards a BPO?

When you are asked this question – focus your answer mainly on the growth of the industry and the prospects you see for yourself in the industry. You can also keep some facts and figures about the growth of the industry handy which will help you in providing more weight to your statement.

Where do you see yourself 3 years from now?

The purpose of this question is to see if you are ambitious and if you will stay with the company for sometime or not. To answer this question you can say, “In three years from now, I see myself at a more responsible position where my company treats me as an asset and hope to grow with this company.”

What are your strengths?

To answer this question – analyse the requirements of the position you have applied for and make a list of the qualities a person working in that profile should have. Pick up the qualities you have out of them and offer them as an answer. For e.g. some of the qualities people applying for jobs in call centres are: Patience, fluency in English, good hearing skills, problem solving etc. This is quite an expected question so you must go prepared with an answer for this question well in advance.

What are your weaknesses?

You must understand that it is perfectly normal for any human being to have some weaknesses. What is more important is to identify them and work on them. Why do you want to quit your present job?

If you are currently working or worked in the past, it is one of the most obvious questions you would face. So, you must go prepared with a good answer for this. The key here is “do not bad mouth your last employer or boss”. Just say that you want to switch for better prospects. Can you share with us your experiences from the last job? The purpose here is to see what you learnt during last assignments, how you used the opportunities to grow etc. Focus you answer on the challenges you faced, solutions you offered and your achievements.

Avoid talking about any bad experiences.

Will you be happy to sign a bond?

Say “Yes”

How would you manage your accommodation?

This question might be thrown at you unexpectedly to see your reaction. To answer this, you can just say that accommodation will not be a problem, you will manage. Would relocation be a problem for you?

Say “No”

Will you be comfortable with working in shifts? Do you have any health problems? Working for a BPO mostly means you will be working for clients outside the country with a different time zone which will require you to work in shifts many times and you have to be prepared for this. If you have any health problems which might cause problem while working in shifts, be clear.

How do you rate your communication skills?

Communication skills play an important role in almost all the jobs you perform. Some need you to communicate internally with your team members, boss or management while others need you to communicate with customers.

Work on you communication skills to rate them as above average. Can you speak for two minutes on one of these topics? You will be given some general topics to see you communication skills, on the spot thinking capability etc. So, read a lot and be ready to speak on some general topics. o you know anything about our company?

Answer to this question shows your level of interest in the job and company. Make it sure that you read about the company before appearing for an interview. Do you know anyone who works for us?

Give a reference if you know anyone inside.

How long would you expect to work for us if given an opportunity? This question aims to find out your stability and see if you would jump at the first opportunity offered to you. To answer this question, you can just say that, “I intend to stay as long as I’m learning and growing & both of us are happy with the work.” Why should we hire you?

To answer this question, you need to prepare well in advance. Read through the requirements of the job properly and match the qualities, skills and experience you have with the requirement. Now offer this as a reason for you to be hired.

What is your expected salary?

Don’t jump at a figure when asked a question about expected salary. Put the ball back in interviewer’s court by asking them, “What does the company offer for a position like this?” If you are the one who has to speak out the figure first, give a range which is not too broad for. e.g. I expect something in mid thirties or something.

Would you leave us if another company offers you 2K more than us? By asking this question the interviewer tries to analyze if the candidate will leave the job for a couple of thousands. Recruiting a candidate costs money to the company so they would like to hire somebody who has some loyalty towards the company. Just say No

Would you like to ask any questions?

When you are going for a job interview, go prepared. Try to find out the latest information about the company. When you are asked this question, you can ask interesting questions like the opportunities for you to grow in the company, the expansion plans of the company and the chances for you to grow there. If the company has been in news recently, you can ask questions related to that also.

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