Challenges Recruiting Call Center Reps and How Digital Interviews Can Help

Call centers first appeared in the world in the 1960s under the not-so-catchy title of “Private Automated Business Exchanges.” Since then, the PABX revolution has fundamentally changed the landscape of modern business. In times of plenty and of austerity, the call centers need workers – but recruiting call center representatives is not so simple these days. Among the numerous challenges that face them, the major issues plaguing call center recruitment agents right now are threefold: high turnover, understaffed HR departments and non-uniform personal technologies. Luckily, digital interviews can help.

1 | FEWER HR STAFF NEED JUST AS MANY CALL CENTER REPS

Since the economy crashed and went into a recovery state, many call center recruiters lost their jobs. Unfortunately for the remaining recruiters, call centers have the same staffing needs as they did before the market turned down. Right now, fewer HR staff than ever are trying to bring in large numbers of call center workers, which means that new technologies are necessary to streamline the process. Voice interviews are a tool within digital interviews that can help HR staff easily recruit for high volume call center reps. With a click of a button, recruiters are able to send out preliminary interview questions to hundreds of candidates for them to respond via voice format. Recruiters are able to review the candidate responses on their own time and not only assess the candidate responses but how the candidate responded. Voice interview answers give recruiters insight on how candidates will sound over the phone and interact with customers.

2 | HIGH TURNOVER

It’s no secret that most call centers, whether outbound or inbound, experience a relatively high staff turnover. To combat constantly fluctuating numbers of workers, human resources staff must constantly maintain a list of potential candidates. Replacing staff on a weekly basis requires excellent management of candidate information as well as relevant job descriptions. In addition, curating and then processing a high number of job applications and resumes is incredibly time-consuming. As a result, many call center HR departments become overwhelmed. When digital interviews help you hire on the right individual for your organization, that individual has a higher chance in succeeding in the new role and therefore a higher chance of staying with the organization long-term.

3 | TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

Different types of personal technology, be it a smartphone, an iPad, a Kindle or a laptop, actually restrict the number of ways that recruiters can get in touch with prospective employees. Methods that involve email messaging, personal interviews and telephone calls are far too labor-intensive and time-consuming to be effective. So how can recruiters reach the masses and most effectively deal with interviewing and candidate vetting? Digital interviews is a neutral technology that spans the various modern divides. Voice interviews are helping overworked HR staff fill positions in call centers more quickly. Not only is the application process simpler and easier for applicants, but it allows for high-level organization and helps identify employees that are better-suited to their new roles.

About The Author

Esteban Gomez is a marketing consultant with interviewstream. He loves learning and has a passion for traveling, having visited many countries including China, Colombia, Italy, and Peru.