Alright, I'm just going to add some questions being asked to me by the Maxis lady and some from Shells (from my friend's interview) for the contact centre agent/CSR/CSO position:

One important tips: From what I know, contact centre training companies keep teaching the trainees to be positive, cheerful and motivated. They want the trainees to start their job feeling really positive. So, you must give your answer with a full smile, be firm, positive and confident. Open your mouth when you are answering. And keep your eye contact with the interviewer (my eyes almost fall out from staring at her's)

1."So you are saying that you have the experience of working in a customer service industry before. Yours was basically walk-in customers. Do you think there is a difference between handling walk-in customers and handling customers' call?"

2."Alright, I'm sure you know a lot about Maxis. Do you know what Maxis's prefix is? What else do you know about Maxis?"

3."Tell me about your best and worst experience when you were dealing with a customer"

4."Oh, I can see that you're using a Maxis number So, can you tell me about any bad experience you had with our service? Anything is fine..."

5."Are you willing to work in Shift? You know that this work is based in S***ay right?"

6."So, you are saying that you were infuriated when you were having a problem with the Maxis line. What make you say that? Is it because of the agent?"

7."Mr. N****, you said that you can work in S***ay. However, I'm a little bit concern about how you will go there. You are currently living in XXXX. The morning shift will start at 6am in the morning. Are you sure you can do that?"

8."Alright, even though you said you can rent a house, are you sure you can do that? You told me that you are currently living with your family. How about your parents? They don't mind you live far away from them?"

9."I'm sure you know that handling customers' call can be stressful. Will you be able to handle stress? Tell me about it"

10."I'm sure you can handle walk-in customer. However, this job is quite different. Don't you think it'll be hard on you when handling calls?"

11."So, you personally think that handling walk-in customers is much more easier and better than handling customers' calls?"

12."Is there any questions that you want to ask?"

13."You mention about your worst experience. How did you solve it?"

14."Do you think our company will have a great future?"

15."You don't mind working for a 3rd party won't you? (They did not mention about the third party's name at all). And the pay is...... Are you sure you want to work with us?"

16."Oh, you are a graduate in accounting/business/biology. I wonder why you want this job? Why didn't you search for a job that is related to your qualification? Your qualification doesn't relate to this industry at all..."

17."Do you know that you will be using lots of IT technology. Since you are a non-IT graduate, can you really use those applications well?"

18."Alright, can you tell me what sort of technologies are being used in a contact centre?"

19."Okay, you said that you apply for this job because it is a fast growing industry in Malaysia. Is that all to it? No other reasons for applying this job?"

*Maxis purposely did not mention about the third party's name
*They keep saying the salary is 'basic' and 'can be increased' to make you ask them about it during the interview (or maybe to check your interest?)
*Question 20 till 24 were from Shell. And no, I'm not trying to bad mouth Shell. I am convinced that there is a reason why they try to provoke the interviewees:

20."Hmm... how do you see yourself in 5 years?"

21."Oh you want to open a business in 5 years later? Then how about your performance in our company? We don't want an employee who can't focus on his/her job"

22."Yes, everyone can say that they will give their 100% to this job. What makes you different from them?"

23."Tell me why should we hire you? Everyone is coming for the same thing"

24."You told me we should hire you because you are a positive person? Anyone can say that"

and sometimes, even after you provide the answers to some particular questions, they'll probably ask the same questions again to irritate you

...............................................................................................................................................................................................................
OCBC (banking industry) interview will probably require you to respond to a situation. Maybe a role play or a presentation (first or/and second interview)

Think about the best way to answer them. Even after you used a strong word such as 'infuriated' make sure you turn that statement back to a positive statement. Don't forget to practice answering while smiling . Oh, and sorry for not arranging the questions according to the chronology, I just write down what I can remember

This post has been edited by ryukai: May 24 2009, 03:30 PM

Yeah, I got the Maxis. However need to work with the 3rd party first for about 12 months (going to sign the contract tomorrow) and after they evaluate your performance and if it is good, Maxis will hire you as a full employee. What differentiate candidate who passed the interview and those who didn't pass (I'm not cocky tauu ) is their level of confidence, clear conversation/communication and keep smiling

My friend got a different Maxis interviewer. The interviewer was an Indian female (middle age I think). She didn't smile at all when interviewing my friend. She keep looking with her eyeglass on her nose and sometimes even look uninterested and do something else. My friend keep smiling and smiling and she tried to attract the the interviewer's attention. And finally, that so serious looking interviewer succumb to my friend's smile. She finally smiled back and even talk in a cheerful manner. For me, interview session after lunch hour can either make you lazy or tired compared to the morning session. It'll totally depends on you to lighten up the mood.

But somehow, I found out that male interviewer sometimes is very hard to please. Agh, you know about their's "I know everything" attitude and even keep commenting about how you put your phone no in your resume, this and that, your address is too smalll, bla bla bla. For me, there are two types of interviewer, one is the old school and another is the one that can accept modern ideas. I love the modern one much better

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was told that most of our explanation when being asked "Tell me about yourself" is too dull (not by the Maxis lady but by a former contact centre's Manager that has worked in UK, Australia and Singapore). All candidates were using the same word, same structure, same jargons, bla bla bla, same thing.

Instead of saying:

"My name is...... I was graduated from..... with a degree/diploma in ....... My program requires me to..... My first job experience was...... My second job..."

They told us that we sound like a robot and almost all candidates were using the same structure. She said, try to improvise the way you explain such as this:

"I am xxx from xxx. I love doing..... that's why I pursue my study in .... so that ....... (don't explain too much). There is something you should know about me, I had worked with ....... before......"

In other words, from her point of view, you should continuously grab the interviewer's attention. I asked about this to another former manager and he said "yeah, fresh graduates and those robots can be boooringg" (those two former managers are now professional instructors moving around giving lectures to students and managers)

ps: Personally, I think the above way of explaining about yourself don't go very well with old-school interviewer (mostly gov sector).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

he also mentioned about this:
-Look at me with your two eyes even though I don't look interested or even yawning in front of you or even look like I'm writing something
-Open your mouth, speak loud even if there is another interviewer who is currently interviewing another candidate in the same room
-Don't make a boring face in front of me, do you want this job or not?
-Girls must wear make up. Even if you are currently pregnant or whatsoever, wear you lipstick! I am already tired, give me something to look at
-Don't play with your pen! And don't even think about moving that executive chair you are sitting on!
-Silent your phone. Only my phone can ring in this room
-Why are you looking at the table or the ceiling? Is there something there that I should know?

I gain a little tips for the question "Tell me about yourself":
-If your resume already list down your education background and the resume is already in the hand of your interviewer before you go there, then you probably do not need to tell about your qualification at all. Just tell about "who you really are". What is your hobby, how your hobby benefits you. Your characterictis- cheerful, helpful, etc. Your favourites (but must be meaningful. Only you really know about yourself) and what have you learned in the past.

(warning, may not work with old-school hardcore interviewer)

-If you are handing out your resume to the interviewer for the first time, then you probably need to tell about your qualifications and experience.

ps: I used the word 'probably' because you need to be able to read the situation
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Warning again! If you tell too much about yourself, be prepared to answer questions such as these:
"So how do you relate your interests and likes to the job you are applying right now?"
"I can't see how you can fit into this job since you only like to..... Don't you think so?"
"So, is there anything you've learned in the past that would benefit you in this job?"

Haha, don't worry too much

This post has been edited by ryukai: May 25 2009, 09:28 PM

You are right, that's why I said you need to read the situation (maybe you can ask politely if they already go through the resume. Some will see this question as acceptable I think and some may not).

Sigh, actually you cannot satisfy every interviewer 100% all the time. Diff people diff wants. It's okay, I'm juz pointing out their opinions. And I also agree wif you. Ah, one thing, doing a research (if you can) about the interviewers from that company may help

ps: I wonder how many of you really give thank you note after an interview?