Let’s be honest: you won’t find a single kid in the world dreaming of working in a call center once they grow up. It doesn’t necessarily mean call center is a horrible place of work. It just means it isn’t a job people dream of having as adults, or a job people are proud of having. However, you can learn a lot working in a call center. How to lead a sales call, how to close a deal, how to handle repetitive rejection. Such experience will only help you in both your professional and personal life… Back to the question though. What do the hiring managers want to hear from you? And does the job have any advantages?
It does have many advantages. First one is a low entry barrier. You can get a job in a call center while still studying, without having any previous working experience. They will provide you training on the job, and just then you will really start. What’s more, you do not need any special skills or even physical strength. Everyone can sit on the chair with headphones on, making phone calls, or answering them…
Second advantage is the typical remuneration model. In a normal call center they will pay you an hourly wage, plus bonuses for tasks finished. Such a task can be filling a questionnaire with a customer, getting their email address, or selling them something. An average call center employee does not earn much. But if you learn how to do this job, and how to work with different types of customers to make sure they take a desired action, you can earn quite a nice salary as a call center operator.
I can see several other advantages you can refer to in your interview answer, besides other things, but I do not want this introduction to take ages :). Let’s proceed to 7 sample answers to the question. Reading the answers you will understand the advantages I was talking about, as well as other things you can refer to while trying to convince the hiring managers that you actually want the job, and do not simply desperately need one.
7 sample answers to “Why do you want to work in a call center?” interview question
- I want to be honest with you–I have no previous experience, and I am still studying. However I look at it, I cannot see many jobs I can realistically apply for successfully. For sure I can work in one of the fast food chains, or giant retail stores, but it is not an environment in which I feel good. Sitting in a chair and making phone calls looks much more attractive to me, though I know the job won’t be easy, and it will take some time until I get the grasp of it. But I did my research, know some people working in call centers, and know what to expect. From the options available to me I consider this option a best one.
- I want to work in a call center because I am looking for something temporary, just for the last year of my studies. I know the employee fluctuation in call centers is very high, and I won’t make you many problems once I leave. It is this freedom that attracts me to the job in a call center–you can basically work almost wherever you want, and once circumstances of your life change and you have to quit, it is no big deal. Now it doesn’t mean that I consider quitting right for the start. I definitely want to have this job while still at high school, and try my best. But the flexibility is attractive to me.
- I have strong confidence in my sales skills. Look, I’ve done similar job before. I know that most people are extremely tired from receiving sales calls, or calls from people wanting to do questionnaires with them. But I also believe that i can turn some cases around, and maximize the potential of each call when the person on the other end actually accepts to talk to me. And I know that you pay bonuses for each deal we close, and honestly believe that with my sales skills I will earn quite good money here. That’s the reason why I want to work in a call center, and not in a supermarket for example, where I would always get just the minimum wage, regardless of my effort and results…
- My goal is to eventually become a professional salesman. Sky is the limit for an amazing salesman, and I definitely prefer selling to any other profession in the world. Having said that, I am 18 right now, with no previous working experience. I can hardly apply for a job of a sales representative in some corporation selling expensive items with high sales commissions. At the moment I need to gain experience, spend long hours selling on the phone, experience rejection and tough moments, and simply get my feet wet. Call center is the best place for someone like me to gain this experience.
- I want to work in a call center–but as a call center manager. That’s my dream job–to run a place like this one someday. Having said that, I know that we all have to start from the bottom. I have to start on the phone, learn the ins and outs of the business, deliver results, and stay long enough to eventually get promoted. And that’s exactly my plan–to try my best and deliver. I know it is a long journey, but I want to give it a try, and I am looking forward to the challenges ahead.
- I just see the job as a great match to my strengths, and my limitations. As you can see I suffer from physical disability. Though I would love to work outside, for example on a farm, or at least have a job in which I move a lot, such as in a warehouse, it isn’t possible. I am not desperate though, I’ve learned to accept my situation, and simply try to get a job I can realistically do with my condition. On the other hand, I am quite a talker, and I believe to be able to handle long hours on the phone. What’s more, I do not mind hearing rejection–as a disabled person I am used to much worse things, and I feel mentally ready to take care of the job, and do well. I hope you will give me a chance to prove it.
- In all honesty, I am looking for any job, and will be grateful for any opportunity. I’ve lost my job during the pandemic, and as a woman in my late fifties, I do not find it easy to get any interviews, let alone a new job. But I am still a part of this society and have to pay bills like everyone else. I can tell you something: if you give me a chance, I will treat this job as some highly paid managerial role. Because for me it is priceless now to get any job…
Ready to answer the question? I hope so! Do not forget to check also 7 sample answers to other tricky questions you may face while trying to get a job in a call center:
- Sell me this pen interview question.
- Call center interview – What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- What is the most difficult feedback you have received?
- This job is repetitive. How do you plan to stay motivated?
- Call center interview – Tell me about yourself.
