There is no surefire way to know who will be the best person for your open position unless you create a time machine. That makes interviews one of the most important tools you have to vet customer service and support candidates.
The right interview questions get useful answers from people because they make them think and use their past experiences. Watching how they react can tell you a lot about how they’ll act in real life, and it will keep you from wasting time and effort on the wrong person.
In this article weve got 26 tested interview questions to get you on the right path. This is our free customer service interview builder. It has dozens more questions, job description templates, and a tool for making your own interviews.
Getting hired at Support.com is no easy feat. As a leading provider of customer and technical support solutions they receive thousands of applicants but only hire the very best. If you have an interview lined up you’re likely qualified on paper – but now you need to showcase your skills in-person to land the job.
In this comprehensive guide, I’ll walk you through the Support.com interview process, from what to expect in each round to the most frequently asked questions and proven strategies to wow the interviewers with your responses. Master this advice and you’ll be well on your way to launching your career with Support.com.
Overview of the Support.com Interview Process
Here’s a high-level look at what to expect during the different stages of the Supportcom interview process
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Prescreen Phone Interview: A 30 minute preliminary call with HR to review your resume and experience. Aims to weed out unqualified applicants.
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Technical Phone Interview: A 45-60 minute technical screen focused on troubleshooting scenarios. Tests diagnostics skills and communication ability.
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Manager Video Interview: A video chat with the hiring manager to assess problem solving skills and cultural fit. Expect situational questions.
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Panel Interview: A 2-3 hour final round with multiple leaders. Includes technical troubleshooting, mock calls with customers, and behavioral questions.
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Reference Checks: Support.com conducts thorough background checks and calls references before making offers.
7 Key Skills Support.com Looks For
To shine in the Support.com interview process, you need to demonstrate core skills including:
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Troubleshooting: Diagnose and resolve technical issues through questioning and logical thinking.
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Customer Service: Listen actively, show empathy, and communicate complex issues clearly.
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Adaptability: Adjust approach based on customer needs and think on your feet.
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Collaboration: Work effectively cross-functionally and take feedback without ego.
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Technological Breadth: Possess experience across software, hardware, networks, and tools.
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Process Orientation: Follow protocols precisely and suggest improvements where needed.
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Culture Fit: Exhibit curiosity, positivity, and a passion for helping customers.
8 Common Support.com Interview Questions
Here are some of the most frequent questions asked during Support.com interviews with proven strategies to ace your responses:
1. Walk me through how you would troubleshoot a customer’s slow internet connection.
This tests your structured troubleshooting approach. Outline step-by-step diagnosis like checking connections, running speed tests, assessing hardware issues, etc. Ask clarifying questions if needed.
2. A customer is furious their new software is crashing continuously. How would you handle this call?
Demonstrate empathy and remain calm. Focus on fixing the issue, not placating emotions. Offer to escalate or have techs call back if needed. Show you won’t get flustered.
3. Tell me about a time you successfully coached a customer through a technical procedure over the phone.
Pick an example that highlights your clear communication ability. Share the diagnosis process and tips provided. Emphasize patience and the customer’s satisfaction.
4. A customer with limited tech experience needs help setting up a wireless printer. How would you guide them?
Show how you’d simplify complex topics using non-technical language. Outline steps like connecting to WiFi network, installing print drivers, adding device in settings, testing printout, etc.
5. Describe a situation where you had to adapt your communication style to assist a frustrated customer.
Tailor your approach to each customer’s needs. For frustrated users, emphasize active listening and empathy before addressing the issue. Outline how you remained cool under pressure.
6. Tell me about a time you made a mistake during customer service. What was the situation and how did you handle it?
Share an example that highlights your accountability, humility, and commitment to learning. Explain the blunder, how you corrected it, and procedures improved to prevent recurrence.
7. Why do you want to work for Support.com?
Convey passion for their mission of helping customers solve technical issues. Research their products and culture ahead of time. Tie your skills and values back to the job.
8. Do you have any questions for me about the role?
Ask smart questions that show your understanding of the job and company. Inquire about training, career growth, team dynamics, challenges ahead, etc. Avoid questions answered on website.
Tips for Acing the Support.com Interview
Beyond preparing great responses to likely questions, here are some universal best practices to shine in your Support.com interview:
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Practice aloud – Verbalize your answers to get comfortable explaining technical topics conversationally.
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Hone your communication – Work on simplifying complex concepts. Adjust tone and style based on customer needs.
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Refresh technical knowledge – Brush up on troubleshooting processes, networking, operating systems, security, etc.
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Research Support.com – Understand the products, customers, values and mission to show passion for the company.
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Prepare stories – Think through detailed examples that showcase your top skills and traits.
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Ask thoughtful questions – Demonstrate curiosity and interest by inquiring about the team, training, growth opportunities, challenges, etc.
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Send thank you notes – Follow up with emails thanking the interviewers for their time and reiterating your interest.
With the right combination of customer service skills, technical expertise, and conversational communication, you can tackle any Support.com interview question with flying colors. Show them you have what it takes to troubleshoot complex issues and deliver exceptional experiences, and you’ll be well on your way to a rewarding career at one of the top brands in technical support.
Key Customer Service Skills to Highlight During Your Interview
Now that you know what to expect from the interview process and questions at Support.com, let’s talk about how to really showcase the top customer service skills they look for in candidates. Here are 5 key skills to emphasize:
1. Active Listening
Demonstrate that you give customers your complete attention by:
- Maintaining eye contact and neutral body language
- Allowing customers to speak without interruption
- Repeating back key details to confirm understanding
- Using open-ended questions to probe for more details
2. Clear Communication
Show how you adapt your communication style by:
- Using non-technical terms to explain complex issues simply
- Adjusting tone and pacing based on the customer’s state of mind
- Employing analogies and examples for clarity
- Following up with written summaries and instructions
3. Diagnostic Ability
Illustrate structured troubleshooting processes like:
- Asking probing questions to understand issues
- Ruling out easiest solutions first
- Using deduction to isolate root cause
- Leveraging knowledge bases and internal resources
4. Product Knowledge
Demonstrate expertise on Support.com’s tools:
- Outlining features and capabilities of offerings
- Explaining how customers specifically use and benefit from products
- Tying product value back to customer needs
5. Collaboration
Show you can work effectively on a team by:
- Explaining how you partner with peers for problem resolution
- Giving credit to teammates and acknowledging shared success
- Outlining how you proactively share knowledge and best practices
The bottom line is that providing exceptional technical support requires a blend of human communication abilities and technical prowess. Keep these core customer service skills top of mind when framing your interview responses, and convey your passion for helping people – that mindset will shine through and differentiate you from the pack.
Tips for Handling the Real-Time Mock Call Portion
Many Support.com interviews include mock calls where you troubleshoot a simulated customer issue live. This segment aims to recreate the unpredictable realities of customer support to test your skills under pressure.
Here are 5 tips to master the mock call portion of your Support.com interview:
1. Actively Listen
Focus intently on each “customer” without interrupting. Pick up on cues about frustration levels and technical proficiency. Adapt your approach accordingly.
2. Ask Clarifying Questions
Don’t make assumptions. Probe gently to understand the full context. Ask open-ended questions to reveal pain points.
3. Think Aloud
Verbalize your diagnostic thought process. This shows your methodical approach and buys you time to think through next steps.
4. Keep Calm
Take deep breaths during frustrations. Be the source of reassurance, no matter what. Having composure under stress will win big points.
5. Summarize
Close each call by summarizing key points and next steps. Circle back to confirm the customer feels satisfied. This finishes strong.
With practice sessions and these tips, you’ll gain confidence handling the interview’s mock calls. Stay focused on methodically solving issues, keep stress at bay, and display rock-solid customer service skills – this will prove you have what it takes
Throw a “zag” into your interviews
Boilerplate questions don’t reflect the reality of support. They don’t surprise anyone, they won’t show that you can do well under pressure, and the questions they pose lead to answers that are also limited. That’s no good, because you’re searching for creativity; work isn’t a multiple choice test.
Instead, complement your must-ask questions, your “zigs,” with a few questions that “zag.”
- Ask a question the candidate won’t know the answer to. How do they answer? When they’re new, there will be a lot of questions in line that will stump them.
- Ask them something that has nothing to do with the product, like, “Who is the most under-appreciated hero or heroine in any story, and why?” Is their answer charming, or does it fall flat, like an “N/A” answer in a written interview?
- First, ask, “What are you a perfectionist about?” to get them to say yes. Then, ask, “When has this caused conflict between you and someone else?” to find out more.
You can also zag by how you conduct interviews. I encourage managers to take potential support hires out for coffee. Observing how someone interacts with the outside world will speak volumes about their self-awareness and personal motivations.
If someone can’t be bothered to say “please” and “thank you,” they shouldn’t be working to make other people happy.
26 customer service interview questions to ask candidates
Use the following 26 customer service interview questions to get the information you need to hire the best people.
1. How would you define good customer service?
2. What appeals to you about this role?
3. What’s the best customer service you’ve ever received? Why?
4. Can you tell me about a time when you received poor customer service?
5. Is there a difference between customer service and customer support?
The first five questions on our list will help you find people who share your core beliefs about how customer service should work in a business. You know what you consider to be great service; does your candidate have the same high expectations?.
They should be able to explain why customer service is important for a business and give clear examples of good and bad service. They should know about your business and be ready to talk about how customer service can help it succeed.
There are people who want a different job but think that customer service is the best way to get in. They’ll be less likely to have thought through what great customer service means to a business.
6. When were you proud of the service you provided to a customer?
7. Have you ever had to deal with a rude customer? If so, how did you handle it? How would you handle it now?
8. Have you ever bent the rules in assisting a customer? Tell me about the situation and the outcome.
9. When you worked before, did a customer ever give you bad feedback? If so, what did you do about it?
10. Could you tell me about a customer you had trouble understanding and how you dealt with them?
11. Can you describe a time when you had to say no to an important customer’s request?
12. How should you help a customer who has talked to several agents and still hasn’t gotten the help they need?
Questions 6-12 measure candidates’ emotional intelligence, empathy, and reflectiveness. In the answers, you need to hear specific, true stories of past service experiences. Even a very junior candidate may have prior retail experience to draw from.
People who are good candidates will be able to give specific examples from their own lives and answer questions about those examples. Look for people who show humility and take responsibility for their mistakes.
Watch out for people who only give examples where the customer or coworkers were at fault or who only use hypothetical examples instead of real ones.
13. Tell me about a time when a customer told you about a technical problem you didn’t know how to fix. What was your approach, and how did it end up?.
14. Can you tell me about a time when you had to make a decision about a customer without a clear policy to follow? How did you make your choice, and what happened?
15. Could you give me an example of a time when your product or service had major problems and you had to respond without having all the answers yet?
Questions 13-15 measure a candidates’ ability to solve problems — an invaluable skill that can always be improved.
The best candidates will be able to explain how they handled situations where they didn’t know what to do right away. Ask them for examples of how they learned from those situations and applied them to another problem.
Watch out for people who say they’ve never been stumped or who can only give examples of when someone else on the team or in the same department gave them the final answer.
16. Could you give an example of how you told a customer that your product or service caused a big problem?
17. When responding to a customer, how do you decide what information to include and what to leave out?.
18. When you had to get a customer or teammate to change the way they worked, could you tell me about it? g. , adopt a new procedure or modify their language) and how you went about doing so?.
Questions 16-18 are designed to measure candidates’ communication skills. The most important skill for people who work in customer service is being able to communicate clearly and with the right amount of detail. This part gives your best candidates a chance to stand out by talking about how they talk to or write to customers.
Good candidates will be able to figure out what a customer wants and change how they talk to different groups of people. Look out for candidates who can only describe a single communication approach; they may be too inflexible.
19. What was the last new skill you picked up? Why did you choose that skill? How did you learn it?
20. Can you tell me about a time when you made a great contribution to your team?
21. What’s the next book I should read? Why?
22. What are you better at today than you were this time last year?
23. What do you think makes a good teammate?
These five questions will help you figure out how candidates feel about their job and how they work, as well as what kind of person they will be to work with. Would they be willing to learn new things all the time? Would they help their coworkers and customers?
In general, people who are good at customer service are able to talk about their hobbies and have casual conversations.
24. Have you experimented with any AI tools in your work so far? What did you learn?
25. Do you believe that self-service can create great customer experiences? Why/why not?
26. In customer service, what do you think about AI? What does AI do best, and where does human help work best?
Our final three questions gauge your candidates approach to the role of artificial intelligence in customer service. As support teams increasingly embed AI tools into their workflows, managing the transition will require thoughtful, flexible people.
IT SUPPORT Interview Questions and ANSWERS! (How to PASS an IT Technical Support Job Interview!)
FAQ
What are the 3 C’s of interview questions?
What are the questions asked in a customer support interview?
What questions do you ask in an IT support interview?
In this article, we review popular IT support interview questions, including general questions, questions about experience and background, in-depth questions and questions with sample answers. Tell me about yourself. How did you hear about this opening? Why do you want to work with our company? Why do you think this role is right for you?
What are the most common it support interview questions?
In this article, we’ll explore some of the most common IT support interview questions along with helpful tips for crafting thoughtful responses that showcase your unique blend of skills and experience. 1. Can you describe your experience with various operating systems, such as Windows, macOS, and Linux?
How many IT support interview questions are there?
Then it’s time to focus on your interviews. In this article, we’ll list 58 IT support interview questions, including sample answers to help you compare candidates’ responses later in your hiring process. When should you use IT support interview questions in your hiring process?
How do you answer a question about it support?
Describe a situation where you had to troubleshoot an issue under pressure. The reality of IT support often involves working in high-stress situations when critical systems are down or not functioning correctly. Interviewers ask this question to gauge your ability to remain calm, collected, and effective under pressure.
