After following a lead from a friend of mine who knew of the company, she recommended I apply for the Customer Service Representative/Lead position.
I applied in late October 2013, and 6 days later, I was contacted by a person in their HR department to schedule a phone interview. They give you blocks of time to wait for a phone call and I choose the 12-5pm block. I was called promptly at 12:08 PM and our interview commenced. I was asked about my background and a couple of behavioral questions concerning what I believed good customer service looked like, and to give examples of what I thought bad customer service looked like. I answered to her satisfaction and was scheduled for an in-person interview the next day.
Now getting to their business is a challenge, but not insurmountable, especially if you live outside of Brooklyn, but early on I think it will be worth it.
The interview was in group interview format, but FIRST we had to do a 45 minute skills activity which involved testing our basic computer skills, excel skills, and basic internet search skills. We also had to fill out an availability sheet. BE HONEST and put the hours you are available and when you are not. They will accommodate you from what I have seen. We had to know what the basic short cut keys were, and identify icons for Microsoft office (Word & Excel) and Internet browsing programs (Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox) We were also given an activity to find out specifics about certain items on their website. (They expect you to know something about their products so DO THE RESEARCH and find ONE THING on the site you like so you can describe it) They even gave a tricky one about their registry where there were two registers under the SAME NAME yet one had no items in it. I made sure to note this on the test. Brush up on your basic excel skills, and if you forget something, you have the internet in front of you on the test, be resourceful and LOOK IT UP. Learn how to do screen shots. It WILL be asked of you.
After this, we spent two hours in group interviews. We interviewed with two supervisors and they asked the following questions I could remember....
What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?
Please give us an example of great customer service?
Please give us an example of when you received poor customer service, and how did you feel about it? How was the issue eventually resolved?
What do you find most interesting about UncommonGoods?
Tell us about a specific time when you weren't able to help a customer. What did you do?
If you are on the phone with a customer and you thought of a great idea to help resolve customer issues, but the idea was not current company policy, what would you do?
They also asked us if we had any questions... BE PREPARED WITH WELL THOUGHT OUT QUESTIONS about the position itself, the fit, and for the interviewers themselves. Ask them how they like working here, about their management styles etc. If the answer is on the website, it is not a question you should be asking.
There were more questions asked of us, but you get the idea.
After this we were told we would hear from them within 24-48 hours with a decision.
I got home 3 hours later from the interview and was offered a position as a Lead which I gladly accepted. I look forward to working with this company. Do your research and be sharp and you should do fine.
There will be a background check so make sure you are squeaky clean.
