I have been called back to William Hill for a call simulation exercise and potentially an interview, now what the hell does that mean? Are they gonna be asking me questions about where i see myself in 5 years time, explain what team work is etc etc. I had one with Norwich Union and it was awful. Please if anyonw works @ Willaim Hill did you have this interview and whats it all about. Thanks x

I don't have any experience of WH's recruitment practices, but I assume a simulation exercise will be in the form of a role play. They will get you to take a call from a member of staff posing as one of their customers to see how you handle the call. They may even do a few different calls - easy straight forward ones to start with, and then maybe a 'difficult' customer with a complaint.

If you perform well enough in this then this may be where the interview comes in. I would have thought it would consist mainly of how you felt about doing the exercise, how you felt you performed, how you think you could do better, how comfortable you would feel doing that kind of work, etc. What they are doing is not only seeing how well you handle the exercise, but perhaps more importantly giving you as good a chance as possible of seeing what the job is REALLY like, so that you can make a decision about whether it is really for you.

I could be completely off course here though!

Try to remain as calm as possible - that's the important part of dealing with phone calls. If you're nervous, it comes through in your voice and it cuts your thinking time down.

If during your role play you are stumped for an answer or you are put under pressure, confidently inform your 'customer' 'please hold the line whilst I find that information for you' or 'I'll pass you on to my supervisor who can deal with your query'.

It doesn't matter if this isn't exactly how the company deals with this type of call, they are looking for whether you remain in control of a call, and if you can remain cool, calm and collected ;)

I think Banesmabes and Strix both offer good advice here, but would suggest you don't offer to transfer a customer to a supervisor if the person role-playing with you complains.

Call centre operators are expected to deal with complaints themselves in most cases; only the most difficult customers should be escalated to supervisors.

My best advice to you would be to be yourself. Let your personality come through, and relax. Recruiting managers want people, not robots. It doesn't really matter if the advice you give the role-playing customer is in line with the company procedure; they have plenty of time to teach that to you in training!

Good luck, and let us know how you get on! :thumbsup:

Here's my advice for your second interview at William Hill; don't go. Unless you want your soul to be crushed.

Thanks for the replys guys, they've really helped! I will let u know the outcome . . . . . . . .
Ageny Gypo what does your reply mean?

A good technique for role playing telephone exercises is asking questions and replying to questions that don't have a 'yes' or 'no' answer! That is from both you & them!!

What can I do for you today?

What can I do to help?

How would you prefer to pay?

Certainly, I can do that for you!
etc etc

All stuff like that!!

Good Luck



:thumbsup:

I used to work for William Hill, and to be honest it aint great. There's a pretty large staff turnover, loadsa students, which mite be why. It's not bad for a student job, but if your looking for any progression in your career, then it's not ideal.

Anyway, there is quite a lengthy recruitment process, they phone you up, put you through a scenario, and even have a role play where you act as an operator. You also answer questions such as what makes good customer service etc.

If u make the next stage, there's a few simple tests, one memory test where u hear a sequence of letters and numberes and u choose which one it is on out of a few choices, and also u have a simple maths test. And finally if they take u onboard, u'll have i think 4-6 weeks in class training, learning all different bet types, then u have a test having to get something like 90% in different subject areas, e.g. football, racing, dogs etc.

Even after this stage, u have to sit with an operator and take calls whilst be supervised by the operator, with him signing u off after they're satisfied with you.

As i say, it's not the best of jobs, i always thought they were quite petty, with things like breaks, 1 min extra and ur a disgrace! Your also constantly scrutinised, where your average call time and quality is recorded, so there really is no relaxing!

I don't want to dissappoint u by telling you this, but this is the version of my account, in the end i quit because they won't allow people to take time off Boxing day, and New yrs! Hope you find this useful