I applied on Lloyds website for a Customer Service Advisor position at Halifax. I made the application on 17.01, on 19.01 I received an email letting me know that I passed the first stage of the application process and that I can book a telephone interview slot in the next week. I had the telephone interview on the 30.01. The interviewer was very friendly, he told me few things about the job, the shift patterns and then he asked questions like:
- What attracted you to this role?
- What do you know about Lloyds?
- What do you think is the most important part of this role?
- What is your biggest challenge?
- Name a thing you disliked at your current job?
- How would you act if an angry customer called you to complain?
- Something about creating a rapport with the customers
- An example of a time when you provided the best customer service
The telephone interview lasted for 30 minutes, after that I was put on hold so the interviewer could finish his notes (he writes down everything you say). When the interviewer came back he told me that I was successful to this interview and that I have to book a slot for the assessment center. I went to the assessment center where we had a face to face interview where I was asked approximately the same questions as in the telephone interview with more competency based questions like:
- Tell me a time when you received a negative feedback
- Tell me a time when you had to work as a team
- Tell me a time when you had to make a decision
- Tell me a time when you provided good customer service
- Tell me a time when you went the extra-mile to help a customer
After the interview, we had a group exercise where each of us got a sheet containing a discussion between an advisor and a customer. We had to discuss between us what the advisor did right, what could have been improved. The assessors were taking notes and were not interfering the conversation.
After the group exercise we had 2 role plays. We got a customer sheet, we had to read it carefully and to answer the queries the customer had. You should be careful at the security checks to make sure that what the "customer" is telling you is the exact same thing as on the sheet you have.
That was all! To be honest, it was a bit easier than I imagined. The people are very friendly and they make you feel comfortable.
2 hours after getting home I got a phone call from Lloyds telling me that I have the job!
