Customer Service Interview

[PilotOnTheRise]

I have applied for a customer service position with Continental Express and American Eagle over at the Baton Rouge Metro. Airport. For those who work in customer service for an airline, what is the interview like? What kind of questions do they ask?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

 

[smellthejeta]

I have applied for a customer service position with Continental Express and American Eagle over at the Baton Rouge Metro. Airport. For those who work in customer service for an airline, what is the interview like? What kind of questions do they ask?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

Have answers to the typical "who are you" questions, like what you did in school, what you want to do for a career, why are you interested in working for our company. (Don't say "to fly for free.") That said, my experience with ground-ops job chasing seems to be that you won't get called for an interview or if you do and have no experience, they're so desperate for employees they take one look and you and skip all the questions.

Okay, I should rephrase. I sent in an app to NWA for a CSR spot at DCA back in, oh, '99. A few months later, I got a post card stating that "your background does not meet our hiring needs at this time..." When I interviewed at ACA, I was surfing around and found that they were hiring. At the time, they had a toll-free number that you called which was a touch-tone prescreen. They asked a lot of work-style yes/no questions that you answered by pushing "1 for yes or 2 for no" and timed you on responses. They asked stuff like "do you like working outside" and "can you work in a streesful or fast paced envirnoment" and others that related them to a ramp-type job. After I hung up, I fully expected not to hear from them again. Lo and behold, they called me the next day The face to face interview was rather insulting but they hired me anyway because they were so d*mn desperate At my current job, my resume got me in and the interview was no big deal. Typical "who are you questions" from the HR folk and the line manager figured by my resume that I could do the job. Remember, your presentation can or is as important as your content. I mean that both on paper and in person.

So I probably didn't help you very much, but if/when I jump to another airline job, I won't sweat it. I have enough experience where I'm pretty much guaranteed an interview for any ground ops job, and will just draw from my experience during an interview.

Now, BTR is an outstation for the carriers you mentioned. You will do everything, maybe not in the same day. You will check people in, check their bags, book reservations, deal with upgrades, missed connections, and whatever it is people do when they check in. You will park the arriving aircraft that makes up the outbound flight, hook up a GPU, download the passengers, unload carry on bags, unload checked bags and deliver them to the claim belt. You will load the next set of bags, board the flight, deal with their oversize carryons, and do some bookkeeping for the bags you loaded. The door will close, you will disconnect the GPU, start the aircraft, and marshall it out. You will then deal with pax whose bags didn't make it on the flight. You will open a mishandled baggage file in the computer, see if there's any tracking info on the bag, and set up a delivery profile. You will incessently be calling the upline hub asking about the status of your inbound aircraft, as it makes up your outbound flight. You're calling because you have a bunch of pissed off people that you can't do anything for, save from rebooking them on another carrier. (At an outstation, make friends with the other airline employees. You'll make each other's lives better, and there are some travel perks that are specific to the station and not something the other company employees have) Oh, you're also dealing with small packages/small cargo shipments. You will most likely not do lavatory and water service at an outstation, you will not fuel aircraft, but you may, on a jet, have to work a piece of an equipment called an "airstart" if the APU on the aircraft is broken. You may or may not have to push the aircraft back. Sometimes you will have to deal with weight and balance restrictions requiring you to offload pax/bags.

This defers from the hub, where most employees "specialize". Certain people know everything about bags, others know everything about checking people, but you know EVERYTHING because you're an outstation employee (I"m not being sarcastic. I had a lot of respect for our hub CSR's who did TDY at outstations because they learned all of the job functions.)

Sorry for the long windedness, but the key to succeeding at an interview is being prepared. Know the job description (which I just gave you!), show some enthusiasm, smile, know something about the company. Stay away from taboo subjects, and discuss the "positive future" and how you can contribute.

Hope this helps.

 

[PilotOnTheRise]

At American Eagle I simply walked in a resume. That is what they were asking for. I am assuming when they are ready, they will call those who they feel qualified enough to fill out an application and possibly interview.

At Continental Express, I filled out a profile online expressing my interest in the CSR job at BTR. Apparently they are not currently hiring, but are looking to soon.

I do have previous experience working in aviation. I was a lineman at a small FBO on the BTR field. I did everything from fueling aircraft (small ones, no jets), cleaning the office and hangar and dealing with customers. So, I do have experience with customer service and aviation.

As far as the interview goes, I have been going over those same questions in my head. Why work for Continental/Eagle, why me and not another person, etc, etc. I feel my background in that Im a pilot in training, have previous experience and have a strong interest in aviation give me a good shot.

I sent the resume just over the weekend. I haven't heard anything, but don't know if that should be taken as a bad sign. I'm going to assume they are giving a time period to allow people to submit resumes and then begin calling those they wish. Any insight on whether that may be the case?

 

[B190Captain]

At American Eagle I simply walked in a resume. That is what they were asking for. I am assuming when they are ready, they will call those who they feel qualified enough to fill out an application and possibly interview.

At Continental Express, I filled out a profile online expressing my interest in the CSR job at BTR. Apparently they are not currently hiring, but are looking to soon.

I do have previous experience working in aviation. I was a lineman at a small FBO on the BTR field. I did everything from fueling aircraft (small ones, no jets), cleaning the office and hangar and dealing with customers. So, I do have experience with customer service and aviation.

As far as the interview goes, I have been going over those same questions in my head. Why work for Continental/Eagle, why me and not another person, etc, etc. I feel my background in that Im a pilot in training, have previous experience and have a strong interest in aviation give me a good shot.

I sent the resume just over the weekend. I haven't heard anything, but don't know if that should be taken as a bad sign. I'm going to assume they are giving a time period to allow people to submit resumes and then begin calling those they wish. Any insight on whether that may be the case?

In a CSR job they also look on how you interact with people. You will be there face to face with the customer and they want to see how much of your background work experience has customer contact.

I worked for Pan Am (the real one) and the interview was pretty straight forward. They even quizzed me and my interview partner on world geography. Name a country and my partner had to name a city in that country. I named England and he said Paris. Well, I got the job and my partner did not. It was fun working the graveyard shift and answering the phone to all the weirdos that have not much better to do. After PanAm's demise I got a job at Eagle as a CSR agent in Miami International Airport.

The interview was pretty short and to the point. Why Eagle? Name 3 qualities about yourself? Tell me about your previous employment? Why should we hire you? and so on. I got hired and was sent to Dallas/Ft Worth American Airlines learning center for a 3 week course in SABRE, which is their reservations system. Learn all city codes!! They have mock up gates that you will be simulating to handle any given situation like irate passengers and special assistance and so on. After training you will feel pretty confident to handle the front lines at Eagle.

The best part is that you will stay in the same building as 800 or so flight attendants from which 10% are gay males and 90% straight babes. It was babe-paradise. At least thats how it was in 1992.

Good luck!!

 

[CounterGirl]

Your best bet is to "wow" them in person--walk in the resume, ask to speak to a manager. Can't stress enough to have a friendly demeanor and positive attitude--make them want to interview you! Even if you don't have any CSR experience, keep in mind that they are looking for a people-person and not an aviation expert (I think those are supposed to be the pilots!). CSRs are often the first representatives of a company that a customer will see, so appearance and demeanor are crucial.

As far as those typical interview questions go: play up the problem solving skills, interest in helping customers and making them happy, being an excellent representative of the company, interest in the field of aviation, etc. Oh yeah, and rehearse what you will say about how you will deal with irate customers--I got that question for both CSR interviews I've gone to. I basically answered that by saying that I would politely reassure the customer that I'll do everything I can to accomodate their needs, that I would listen to them but be stern in explaining that things like weather/delays/mx happens, and offer alternatives, all with a smile. It's all about customer service, but while keeping your dignity.

Good luck!