Vervoe has long led the way when it comes to creating assessments that replicate or simulate on-the-job tasks and experiences. As the market goes through a period of rapid expansion, we’re starting to see more providers turn their attention to their content and testing methods.
The CS Simulation is the first of a suite of more advanced question types that we’ll be adding to the product over the next 12 months. The simulation replicates the experience of using a help center product and will allow you to truly see how candidates perform on the job by replicating the experience in Vervoe’s controlled environment. The simulator itself is a question type, and sits within an assessment as a skill group.
The CS Simulation places candidates inside a real support center to predict job performance and to help you make great hiring decisions. Candidates are given the opportunity to review, manage, and respond to a range of customer requests that appear in the queue as they work.
How it works
The CS Simulator currently supports 3 different use cases:
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Retail/eCommerce
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IT Help Desk
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Subscription/SaaS Product
Each use case contains a series of questions that relate specifically to the role in context and include skills like attention to detail, empathy, reading comprehension, and initiative.
The simulator is a replication of popular help desk tools, like ZenDesk, with a list of customer questions coming in down the left-hand side, and an accessible knowledge base on the top left. Candidates are able to review the customer question then use the knowledge base and customer profile to help them decide on the best response.
Each question has a multiple-choice series of answers to choose from. The responses are awarded a point value on a scale of 0 - 10. Only one response per question can be selected. The scores from each question will be added up and then averaged to create the score for this skill.
Once the candidate reaches the question in an assessment, they will see the screen below. Clicking [start] will take them into the simulator.
Once inside the simulator, they’ll be given a quick tour highlighting the key features to help them move through the question.
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Tickets coming in from customers
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Knowledge base sectioned by category
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Customer details which include order numbers, shipping information, and dates
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Multiple-choice responses
Once they click start on the final step the timed simulation will begin.
Candidates will have 10 minutes to complete as many questions as they can. There’s currently 15 questions (or tickets) peruse case that assess a range of skills under the CS umbrella including;
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Attention to detail
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Empathy
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Initiative
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Reading comprehension
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Learning agility
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Decision making
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Problem-solving
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Influence
Full list of questions, answers, outcomes here.
Sections within the CS Simulator
Knowledge Base
Some of the questions relate directly to answers that can be found in the knowledge base, which is segmented into headings for things like "complaint handling", "exchanges and refunds", and "billing and pricing".
The knowledge base is universal for each use case, meaning candidates will need to search for the right information like they would in a real help center. The information will help them determine the correct response to choose.
Customer Profile
Each ticket is attached to a customer profile that contains the customers' details, and purchase history. Candidates will need to review the information in detail here in order to select the correct response to some of the tickets. For example, one ticket asks why a customer has yet to receive their items. By checking the customer profile the candidate will see the status of the order is still pending and has not shipped.
Candidate Report Card
Once the candidate has completed the assessment their results for the CS simulation will appear in the candidate report card under the skill group `CS Simulation`. The overall score for this skill group will be the average of all of the tickets they responded to.
Users can also drill further into the skill group score and see the breakdown of points per ticket along with the sub-skills the ticket was testing.
