Customer Support Interview Process

We take a lot of pride in our support team here at GoCardless. 😛

If we see a ticket that's close to breaching our service level agreement (SLA), we'll jump straight on it. Or if we notice a product update that's caused an unexpected issue, we'll quickly follow up to resolve it.

We're constantly working to improve processes, increase efficiency, and share more knowledge. Whenever our users get in touch, we have the right tools to provide a quick resolution that will minimise any disruption to their day. If we can put a smile on their face while doing so, well that’s just the icing on the cake.

We're also a team that knows how to have fun. Our Slack channel is widely revered across the company. If there were a prize for inexplicable overuse of giphys and non-stop banter, we’d win hands down. We all love getting stuck in at our company events…and the weekly Friday evening pub drinks.

Together we’ve sampled our fair share of bars and restaurants near the office, and we’ve competed in laser tag, bubble football, beer pong, and more – all in the name of creating a great team spirit.

Anyway, before we get too carried away, let’s get back to what you came here for – insights into our interview process.

It all starts with your CV

We know that great ‘supportees’ can come from many different backgrounds (our team is no exception!) so don’t be put off from applying just because you don’t think yours is relevant.

Your CV and cover letter give us an initial impression of you, along with your experiences, skillset, motivations, and perhaps one or two oddities that make you unique. Remember, we receive quite a few applications. Think about how you can best present the information in your CV and cover letter to ensure we won’t miss the best bits.

If we like what we see, we'll arrange a phone interview with you.

Phone interview

This is our first chance to get a sense of you as a person; what you’ve been doing up until now, and why you want to work for us.

We want to know what excites you about GoCardless and the world of fintech, and how you see your potential future with us.

Depending on who calls, you might also be asked about your baking prowess. (We have a bit of a sweet tooth here in support - contributions are always welcome 😋).

But this isn’t just our chance to find out more about you. It’s also your chance to ask us questions, whether about the role, our product, company culture, or how many giant marshmallows Jess can fit in her mouth at once. (She’s said it’s important to reiterate that they were ‘giant’ ones).

Don’t forget, this is your chance to make a great first impression. Try to relax and let the real you shine through.

Face-to-face interviews

Having nailed the phone interview, you’ll then be invited into our office to meet some of the team. We’ll show you around so you can get an idea of the environment you’ll be working in. You'll also experience how we work with a few example tasks to complete while sitting among our friendly support team.

Once you’ve been shown around our office you’ll begin the first of two face-to-face interviews.

Role Fit:

Lasting approximately half an hour, this first face-to-face interview is where we aim to find out if you’re a good fit for a support role. We’ll ask questions that identify your strengths, expose areas you can improve on, and assess whether you possess the key competencies we’re looking for.

We’ll also delve more into your motivations for joining a support role at GoCardless, your own experiences of customer support – good and bad, and how you see support fitting into the wider company vision.

Culture Fit:

The second interview is where we find out more about you and the values you hold dear. It our chance to see if we think you’d be a great fit within our support team and the GoCardless community as a whole.

We’re a varied mix of personalities so there’s nothing specific we’re looking for; we just want to know if we’d enjoy spending 9 hours a day with you. (This is similarly your opportunity to decide this about us as well!) We want to know what gets you up in the morning, what makes you tick, and most importantly what it is about supporting customers that you find irresistible.

Support Tasks:

Once the face-to-face interviews are completed, you’ll move on to the support task. This is a short exercise where you get to sit with our support team and experience what it would be like to work with us. You’ll be given a few short tasks, example emails, and a couple of role play phone calls. They’re all very straightforward and not designed to trip you up, so don’t worry. We’re more interested in seeing how you interact with the people sitting next to you, how you approach the tasks, and how you formulate your responses.

Supporting our customers over the phone is an important aspect of our work. The role plays allow us to test your phone manner, your ability to explain information, and how you deal with situations when you don't know the answer.

Once you’ve completed these tasks you finally get to head off home, hopefully with an air of renewed confidence having just knocked this stage of the interview process out of the park.

Executive Interview

If you’ve made it this far you’ve done extremely well. You definitely have some of the characteristics we’re looking for.

This is the final stage of the interview process. You’ll be invited back to our office to meet two senior members of our team, most likely our Head of Support alongside another head of department.

This might seem daunting - I remember the nerves I felt as I walked into the interview room for the final time - but it needn’t be. Even our most senior team members here are really cool and easygoing. This is an opportunity for you to meet the people responsible for managing you and your progress within GoCardless.

They'll want to find out more about your motivations for working with us over any other potential employer. Also, they'll want to know how your experiences will help us in achieving our company vision. They'll ask about your expectations in working for GoCardless, what you want to learn during your time with us, and where you see your career heading in the future.

The key difference between this and the previous interview is that your responses are being considered through the lens of our most experienced team members, the ones who can pick up on things that others may have missed.

The best advice I can give you is to think about what you’re really looking for in your next job role before you come in.

• How have your past experiences led you to where you are now?

• Why do you want a career in Support?

• Can you see yourself working with us for the next couple of years or more?

If you’re confident you’re in the right place, going in the right direction, and with the right motivations, then just relax and remember, above all else – be yourself!

Notes about the process

Questions:

At any stage in the process you're more than welcome to ask questions. We may prompt you at certain times to ask us questions, but our aim is to make the whole process as open as possible. As such, there’s never an inappropriate time to ask us something.

How we decide:

For each interview stage you undergo, each member of the team involved in that stage will meet afterwards and discuss how we think you got on. We'll keep discussing until we agree on whether to progress you to the next stage.

Hearing back:

With each stage of the interview process we'll do our best to let you know our decision within 48 hours. If there have been a lot of applicants though this may take us up to a week. If a week has passed and you still haven’t heard from us please feel free to get in touch.