Over the years, I have hired call center agents in Canada, India and the Philippines.  Some of them have worked out really well, others less well.  As a relatively small business, I cant afford to screw up often...and I did recently.

Yesterday I interviewed 5 people in the Philippines.  The person I hired was not the person who fit the profile of the person I thought I would hire, yet I feel good about the decision.

The Challenge

Without the benefit of being able to look a candidate in the eye or read their body language, how do you know who to trust with the role? 

Methodology

The Scorecard

I always start with a profile of the candidate I believe would walk on water and give that impossibly-talented person a perfect score of 100.  What are the attributes I feel they need to be successful?  What education?  What experience?  How much education and experience?  What are the required attributes?  What are the desired?  I then weight the attributes so the more important attributes score higher.

The Questions

I find it best to have a written list of the top 10 questions I need answers to in order to qualify the person.  What did you do in your last job?  How long have you been outbound calling?  What did you love about the job?  What do you hate?  It also helps to have a few skill-testing questions at the ready.  What would you do if?  What do you think about this script?

The Interview

I find it best to conduct several interviews. 

The first interview is to get a feel for the person.  With their resume at hand, I ask them to tell me a bit about their background, what they know about my needs and why they feel they are a good fit.  How do they handle themselves on the phone?  How is their confidence?  If they have an accent, would it get in the way of communicating with the target audience?  How is their grammar?  Do they sound credible?

In the second interview, I try some role playing.  Can they get past the "gatekeeper"?  Do they qualify the person they are calling? Do they sound like a robot, or someone who enjoys what they are doing?  Can they take a question from left field and not stumble?  I try to add some stress at this point to see how they react under pressure.  I also try to paint a very realistic picture of the role they would be taking on.  Do they still want the role?

By the end of the second interview, the field has usually narrowed down to one or two candidates.  By this time it comes down to gut feel and personality.  I also try to look beyond the current role to get a feel for whether the person could coach and manage others if the opportunity were to present itself.

The Follow-up

Once the offer has been extended and accepted, I believe it is importation to keep the excitement and momentum by providing clear expectations for the first couple of weeks and lots of training to insure the person adapts well to the new role.  I also believe in thanking all candidates for going to the trouble to consider the role.  It's amazing how a simple "Thank you" distinguishes a potential employer in the eyes of a candidate.

My Newest Agent

Given the demographic of my target audience, I thought a woman agent would be more suitable.  As my client put it, "Our prospects are very senior executives and are mostly men over 50 years of age.  Chances are a successful older man will be more likely to give a polite, young woman a chance, where he might hang up on an equally  polite young man."

As it turns out, the best person for the job is a man.  Welcome to the team, Randy!