Hire The Right Contact Center Agents: How To Assess Soft Skills

Contact center recruiting is about more than filling open seats. The agents you hire become the people who communicate with customers, solve problems, represent your brand, and influence the Customer Experience every day. A strong hiring process should evaluate not only technical qualifications, but also the soft skills employees need to succeed in the specific role.

• What Are Soft Skills?
• Define the Skills You Need Before Recruiting
• 1. Evaluate Communication Skills
• 2. Use Behavioral and Situational Questions
• 3. Observe Job-Relevant Behaviors
• 4. Use Assessments as Part of a Broader Selection Process
• 5. Match Soft Skills to the Contact Center Role
• Build a Complete Agent Selection Process

What Are Soft Skills?

Soft skills are interpersonal and behavioral capabilities that influence how effectively a person communicates, collaborates, solves problems, adapts, and interacts with others.

For contact center agents, important soft skills can include:

• Clear communication
• Active listening
• Empathy
• Patience
• Adaptability
• Problem-solving
• Emotional intelligence
• Confidence
• Accountability
• Organization
• Resilience
• Service orientation

Hard skills are more technical and can include proficiency with computer systems, CRM platforms, industry processes, typing, writing, mathematics, or specific language requirements.

Both categories matter. An agent may understand the technology perfectly but still struggle with customers if they cannot listen, communicate clearly, remain composed, or adapt to different situations.

The strongest candidates bring an appropriate combination of technical capability and interpersonal skills for the specific work they will perform.

Define the Skills You Need Before Recruiting

Before evaluating candidates, define what success looks like for the position.

Not every contact center agent requires exactly the same skill profile. A Customer Service representative, debt collection agent, technical support specialist, and sales professional may all communicate with customers, but the way they perform their jobs can be very different.

Start by asking:

• What type of customer interactions will the agent handle?
• Is the work inbound, outbound, or both?
• How complex are the customer issues?
• Does the role require negotiation or persuasion?
• Will the agent frequently interact with frustrated customers?
• How much independent problem-solving is required?
• How many systems must the agent use?
• What written and verbal communication skills are necessary?
• What technical skills are essential before hiring?
• What knowledge can be developed through training?

Once the required capabilities are identified, they should become part of the job profile, interview process, assessments, training strategy, and performance expectations.

This approach helps organizations recruit for the needs of the actual operation instead of searching for a generic definition of the “perfect contact center agent.”

1. Evaluate Communication Skills

Communication is one of the most important capabilities in a customer-facing contact center role.

Recruiters have multiple opportunities to evaluate communication throughout the selection process:

• Written communication
• Initial email exchanges
• Phone screening
• Video or in-person interviews
• Role-play exercises
• Listening exercises
• Writing assessments when relevant to the position

The objective is not simply to determine whether someone is naturally outgoing. Strong Customer Service communication requires much more.

Evaluate whether the candidate:

• Listens before answering
• Communicates ideas clearly
• Asks relevant questions
• Maintains a professional conversation
• Understands instructions
• Can organize information logically
• Adapts when clarification is needed
• Uses an appropriate tone

Communication Includes Active Listening

Excellent communication is not only about speaking well. Agents also need to understand what customers are actually telling them.

Customers may provide incomplete information, describe several issues at once, express frustration, or explain a problem without knowing exactly what caused it.

An effective agent needs to listen, identify the underlying need, ask appropriate questions, and communicate the next step clearly.

CCSI reinforces these capabilities through continuous agent training and development in areas including communication, active listening, Customer Experience, negotiation, systems and processes, and call techniques.

2. Use Behavioral and Situational Questions

Behavioral questions help recruiters understand how candidates have handled relevant situations in the past.

Instead of asking:

“Are you good at solving problems?”

ask for a specific example:

“Tell me about a time you encountered a problem at work. What happened, and what did you do to resolve it?”

The candidate's response can provide insight into problem-solving, communication, judgment, accountability, and adaptability.

Other useful behavioral questions include:

• “Tell me about a time you had to deal with a frustrated customer or coworker.”
• “Describe a situation where you had to learn a new process quickly.”
• “Tell me about a time you received difficult feedback. How did you respond?”
• “Describe a situation where you had several priorities at the same time.”
• “Tell me about a time you made a mistake. What did you do after you realized it?”
• “Describe a situation where you helped someone understand something complicated.”

Use Realistic Contact Center Scenarios

Situational questions can also evaluate how a candidate approaches circumstances they may encounter in the actual position.

For example:

“A customer tells you this is the third time they have contacted the company and nobody has resolved the problem. How would you begin the conversation?”

The response may reveal whether the candidate recognizes the need for empathy, ownership, active listening, investigation, and resolution.

A candidate for a Debt Collection operation may need to demonstrate negotiation, composure, persistence, active listening, and the ability to work within defined procedures.

A candidate for Customer Service may need stronger empathy, patience, problem-solving, and service orientation.

A candidate working in sales may require persuasive communication, resilience, self-motivation, and the ability to manage objections professionally.

3. Observe Job-Relevant Behaviors

Observation can provide useful information during an interview, particularly when recruiters focus on behaviors connected directly with the position.

Useful observations may include:

• Whether the candidate listens carefully to questions
• How clearly they explain an answer
• Whether they ask for clarification when necessary
• How they respond to a challenging scenario
• Whether they follow instructions during an exercise
• How they organize their thoughts
• How they react when presented with unexpected information
• Whether they communicate professionally and respectfully

Recruiting decisions should focus on capabilities related to job performance rather than assumptions based on personal appearance, fashion, accent, personality stereotypes, or other characteristics that do not determine whether someone can perform the work successfully.

Use Work Samples When Appropriate

A realistic work sample can provide additional insight into how a candidate approaches the type of tasks they would perform after hiring.

Depending on the role, that might include:

• A mock customer interaction
• A response to a sample customer email
• A role-play involving a frustrated customer
• A short computer or data-entry exercise
• A listening and note-taking exercise
• A product explanation exercise
• An objection-handling scenario

Work samples allow recruiters to evaluate relevant capabilities in action instead of relying entirely on what candidates say about themselves during an interview.

4. Use Assessments as Part of a Broader Selection Process

Assessments can provide additional information about aptitude, reasoning, behavioral tendencies, language proficiency, or other capabilities relevant to a position.

They are most useful when they complement other selection methods rather than becoming the sole basis for a hiring decision.

A complete candidate evaluation can combine:

• Structured interviews
• Behavioral questions
• Situational questions
• Work samples
• Communication assessments
• Technical assessments
• Relevant employment experience
• Job-related aptitude assessments

Employment tests should be appropriate for the position and the purpose for which they are being used. Organizations should understand what an assessment measures, how the results relate to job requirements, and the limitations of the tool.

Use Assessment Results as Data, Not Labels

An assessment can provide useful information about a candidate, but one result should not automatically define what that person can or cannot become.

Use assessment results together with interviews, work samples, relevant experience, communication skills, technical capabilities, and training potential to build a more complete candidate profile.

The goal is better job alignment — identifying candidates whose capabilities match the responsibilities, customer interactions, and performance expectations of the specific program.

5. Match Soft Skills to the Contact Center Role

Different contact center programs require different combinations of interpersonal capabilities.

Customer Service

A Customer Service agent may benefit particularly from:

• Empathy
• Patience
• Active listening
• Problem-solving
• Clear communication
• Adaptability
• Ownership

Debt Collection

A Debt Collection agent may require:

• Negotiation
• Persistence
• Emotional control
• Active listening
• Clear communication
• Professional judgment
• Ability to work within strict procedures

Sales and Lead Generation

A sales or lead-generation agent may benefit from:

• Self-motivation
• Persuasive communication
• Confidence
• Resilience
• Adaptability
• Objection handling
• Goal orientation

Technical Support

A technical support representative may require:

• Problem-solving
• Patience
• Logical thinking
• Clear explanations
• Active listening
• Adaptability
• Ability to simplify technical information

Matching the candidate profile to the actual role creates a stronger foundation for training, performance, employee satisfaction, and Customer Experience.

Build a Complete Agent Selection Process

Soft skills should be one part of a structured hiring process rather than the only factor used to select agents.

A strong contact center recruiting process can include:

1. Define the agent profile. Identify the technical knowledge, language capabilities, interpersonal skills, experience, and availability required for the position.
2. Screen essential qualifications. Confirm that candidates meet the fundamental requirements before moving further into the selection process.
3. Evaluate communication. Assess the written, verbal, and listening skills required for the program.
4. Use behavioral interviews. Ask candidates to explain how they have handled relevant situations.
5. Use realistic scenarios or work samples. Observe how candidates approach tasks similar to those they will perform on the job.
6. Use appropriate assessments. Add job-related testing when it provides useful information about capabilities required for success.
7. Include operational input. Involve people who understand the client program, customers, processes, and performance expectations.

Using multiple sources of information provides a more complete candidate profile and reduces dependence on one interviewer's first impression.

Hiring Is Only the Beginning

Recruiting people with strong potential creates a foundation, but successful contact center teams also require continuous development.

Skills can be strengthened through:

• Initial training
• Product and service education
• Quality Assurance feedback
• Coaching
• Mentoring
• Communication training
• Customer Experience development
• Leadership opportunities

CCSI provides continuous agent training and development across systems and processes, Customer Experience, negotiation, active listening, communication, certifications, mentoring, and leadership development.

This creates a connection between recruiting and Employee Experience: select people with the potential to succeed, then provide an environment where those capabilities can continue developing.

Select the Right Agents for Your Nearshore Contact Center

Establishing a nearshore operation should not mean accepting a generic workforce profile.

The recruiting strategy should reflect the specific requirements of your business, including:

• Industry
• Customer profile
• Products and services
• Inbound or outbound processes
• Required language skills
• Technical knowledge
• Customer Experience standards
• Sales or negotiation requirements
• Compliance requirements
• Operational processes

CCSI provides access to professional bilingual and bicultural agents in Mexico supported by recruiting, Human Resources, continuous training, Workforce Management, Quality Assurance, technology, and operational resources.

Clients can align their nearshore workforce with their own processes, systems, training requirements, performance standards, and Customer Experience expectations.

The objective is not simply to fill seats. It is to build a team with the capabilities required to represent your organization effectively and grow with your operation.

Build Your Nearshore Team With the Right Agent Profile

Hiring Assessment Reference

Employment assessments and selection procedures should be appropriate for the position and applied consistently. Employers using tests should understand what the assessment measures, confirm that it is related to the job and its intended purpose, and consider applicable employment requirements.

Employment Tests and Selection Procedures — U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Historical note: First published in 2018, this article has been reviewed and updated to reflect current recruiting and employee-selection practices while preserving its focus on communication, behavioral interviews, job-relevant observation, assessments, and role-specific soft skills.

Originally published: August 22, 2018
Last reviewed and updated: July 26, 2026