This Customer Service Aptitude Test Separates Good From Bad Hires

An elderly customer calls with a problem finding some product information on your company’s website. He is nice enough, just frustrated and hopeless because he can’t find what he needs. The information he’s looking for is too long and complicated to share over the phone. What are the best next steps?

The customer you are speaking with needs help solving a relatively common problem with his computer printer. Early on in the conversation, you realize he is not at home and can't provide the model number and other information you normally need to process this request. How do you proceed with the call once you discover this information?

An eagerly awaited new album has been leaked several hours before its official release. Listeners are now able to download the album for free.

How will this affect album sales?

How old is John if, in 38 years, he will be 3 times as old as he is today?

An author writes an argumentative essay to persuade readers to agree with a claim about a topic. When writing an argumentative essay, it's important to establish credibility with readers to convince them that the author is trustworthy. True statements, accurate evidence, and clear logic increase an author's credibility. However, false statements, inaccurate evidence, and unclear logic make an author less credible. With lower credibility, an author is less likely to persuade readers to agree with a claim--even when it is trustworthy.

Select the statement that most effectively summarizes the above text:

You are on the support team for a cable/internet company and you have received the following email from a customer, Mike Smith:

I am very upset that your installation tech did not come to my home today at the appointed time. I took time off from work, all for no reason! I was told he should arrive between 12:00 and 5:00. He didn’t get here until 5:45. I could have just stayed at work since I normally get home at 5:30. This is not a good way to start my new service with you and I am already considering canceling!

A quick check of the notes on the customer’s account shows that the tech was scheduled to arrive ideally between 12:00 and 5:00pm, but didn’t get there until about 5:45 because of heavy traffic resulting from a car accident on one of the major crosstown roadways.

Please draft your response to this customer in the box below.

Dan put a large bet on a horse. However, a day before the race, the horse was injured.

Select which of the following statements are true:

A postcard and a stamp together cost $1.50. The postcard costs one dollar more than the stamp.

How much does the stamp cost?

It has rained continuously for 15 days. Tomorrow, an important football match is being held in an outdoor stadium.

Select which of the following statements are true:

As a customer care representative named Jim for an online shoe store, you start a live support chat with Amy. She is a customer who wants to exchange shoes that don’t fit for the same shoes in another size. You greet the customer with your name and let her know that you will take care of her return immediately. Then, you offer to find the shoes in a better size for her. She replies, “No offense Jim, but I’d rather talk to a woman about women’s shoes.”

What are appropriate responses?

In the middle of the summer, around 2:00 p.m., Agathe fell asleep in a swimsuit on a beach in Greece.

Select which of the following Agathe is most likely to experience:

Carefully read the following excerpt from an article on paper production:

With the recovery rate of used paper for recycling approaching 70 percent in the United States and Europe, and approaching 80 percent in Japan, to keep up with our demand for paper we need to continue using fresh fiber as well as recycled, according to the premise set forward in a new report by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

Detailing the reasons why fresh fiber combined with recycled is important for a single integrated wood fiber system, the report examines the “complementarity” of using both and discusses the functions of different types of fibers and the issues related to both recycling old fiber and sourcing fresh fiber. In 2012, 400 million tons of paper and paperboard were produced and consumed globally, which is double that in 1985, notes the report. As the population continues to expand and standards of living increase, this number is expected to climb by another 40 percent by 2028. While many would advocate for cutting down on paper use in the first place, in the face of global demand the most sustainable fiber may have to be the next best thing. But therein lies the rub: finding adequate quantities of said fiber will be the challenge of the global pulp and paper industry.

Which statement most effectively summarizes the text?

In which year did the company make the largest profit per employee?

In an upcoming referendum, voters will be asked whether the minimum wage should be increased. Telephone polls of likely voters were conducted to predict what the result might be. All respondents were put into at least one of six categories based on profession and age: scientist, lawyer, hourly wage earner, small business owner, younger voter, older voter.

The opinion polls showed:

• A majority of voters are in favor of keeping the current minimum wage.
• A majority of scientists and lawyers supported a rise in the minimum wage.
• Younger voters are more inclined to support a rise in the minimum wage.
• Older voters tend to support no change.
• Hourly wage earners overwhelmingly supported a rise in the minimum wage.
• Small business owners were evenly split on the subject.

Select all the statements that can be concluded from the above text:

Five types of tires were tested in three different driving conditions.

Consider the following table of their test scores:

If a tire type scored 4 or less in any category, it failed the test.

What is the highest average score of the tire types that passed the test?

As a customer support agent for a music equipment company you receive an email from Fatema about a violin she bought last week for her son. She says the strings broke while he was playing in his school’s holiday concert and he was embarrassed to tears. She asks what you can do to make it up to him.

As part of your customer service work for QuikPizza, you monitor the restaurant's social media accounts to make sure that customers have positive experiences with the restaurant. When you come into work one morning, you see the following public post from the night before, which already has 138 likes.

Given that this message is on social media, how do you respond appropriately?

John has some apples, and two brothers, Jack and Jim.

John eats 3 of his apples and splits the remainder equally between himself and each one of his brothers. Jack and Jim both eat half the apples they have been given. Together the three brothers have 4 apples left.

How many apples did John start with?

The charts below show the number of cars John sold last year and the profit per car he made.

How much did John earn last year?

Germany's economy avoided falling into recession during the final three months of last year. This means that it avoided two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth, which is the definition of a recession. This was a small, but positive, surprise for all analysts who, after the July-to-September period that featured a 0.3% decline, predicted the continuation of this negative trend.

Reasons for slower growth last year include a slowdown in the global economy and a weaker car sector, with some German consumers less willing to buy new cars amid confusion over new emission standards.

Joe Johnson, senior financial analyst, told the BBC that US tariffs on EU car exports, which US President Donald Trump has threatened, could have a major impact on Germany. He thinks that, if this happens, Germany might fall into recession.

What can be concluded from the text above?

Which product line saw the largest absolute increase in income (dollar amount, not percentage) in the second half of the year compared to the first half of the year?

The company's sick leave policy says:

This company’s sick leave policy applies to all our employees who have been with our company for more than six months. Our employees can take sick leave only when they want to recover from a sudden illness, accident, or injury. They can use up to 10 days of sick leave for these purposes per calendar year.

Upon completion of each 12 month period of employment, employees will receive 3 additional days of sick leave for every completed 12 month period of working for the company. Unspent additional sick leave days cannot be transferred to the next 12 month period. For example, an employee who has worked for the company for 10 years would receive 30 additional days of sick leave, or 40 in total.

Keep in mind that employees who become sick should either use their sick days or work from home to avoid spreading illnesses.

Fill in the blanks, with numbers, for the cases below. Enter the number 0 for cases when an employee doesn't have the right to sick leave, according to the policy.

• Emily, who has worked for us for almost half a year and still hasn't used any sick leave days, has the right to use up to __ sick leave days this year.
• Faith, who just started her 3rd year of working for us and has not taken sick leave until now, had a car accident. She has the right to use up to __ days of sick leave to recover from her injuries.
• Vanessa, who started to work for us a little over a year ago, took 2 days of sick leave last year. She was Faith's passenger in the car accident. Vanessa has the right to use up to __ days of sick leave to recover from her injuries.
• Edith, who began working for us 8 months ago, has the right to use up to __ sick leave days for a volunteer adult care program at a local hospital that lasts the whole day.
• If Gabrielle, who has worked for us for 20 months, and who took a 10-day sick leave immediately after her 6-month trial period had finished, gets ill tomorrow, she will have the right to use up to __  days of sick leave.

Cats are common pets throughout the world, and their worldwide population exceeds 500 million.

Cats are the second most popular pet in the U.S. by number of pets owned, behind freshwater fish. Although cat ownership has commonly been associated with women, research has shown that men and women in the U.S. are equally likely to own a cat.

They are ranked as the third most popular pet in the U.K. by number of pets owned, after fish and dogs, with 8 million being owned.

What can be concluded from the text above?

A customer phones to complain about a printer she purchased last week that stopped working. The customer tells you the brand of printer and it's clear she has called the wrong number because your company has never sold that brand.

What responses show appropriate customer service in this situation?

As a customer support agent, you receive the following email from an angry customer.

What are appropriate responses?

A brother and sister own equal parts in a company. The minority shareholders have the remaining 12,000 shares or 30% of the company.

What is the number of shares that the sister owns?

The charts below show the number of cars John sold last year and the profit he made per car.

Considering all car types, in which quarter did John make the largest average profit per car?

It takes Billy 4 hours to paint a fence by himself. It takes Suzy 6 hours to paint the same fence by herself.

How long will it take them if they start working on the same fence together and neither of them stops until the fence is completely painted?