A day judging awards reminded me why CVs don’t tell the whole story

A couple of weeks ago, I swapped the Talent Tent Zoom carousel for an actual room full of people to help judge the Connect Wales Contact Centre Awards.

My focus was on helping to decide the winner for the “emerging star” and “new talent” categories.

A more accurate way to describe what was happening was spending a day meeting 15 incredibly impressive people who, in some cases, have been on the phones for less than six months yet are already doing amazing things in their businesses.

What struck me first was the great variety in the finalists’ backgrounds.

One candidate came straight from college, and another from working a coffee shop shift rota. 

One had been supporting vulnerable adults in a care home six months earlier. Fast-forward to today, and that same person is gently guiding financially vulnerable callers through tricky money conversations. Different industries, same underlying skills: empathy, resilience, calm under pressure.

Previous experience is sometimes overrated.

It reminded me of something important when it comes to who thrives in contact centres: previous experience is sometimes overrated.

It’s a handy reminder for any hiring manager that a headset on the CV is nice to have, not essential. Transferable skills do transfer.

Every single interview crackled with energy. There was genuine excitement about customer experience, clever process improvements, even a bit of healthy rivalry (“I’m aiming for my team leader’s job by Christmas”). 

Sure, they occasionally slipped into the odd bit of call centre jargon, but the enthusiasm was infectious. When we ducked out for a coffee, my fellow judges and I all agreed: if this is the next wave, the sector’s in safe hands.

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The uncomfortable bit… picking winners.

Judging meant putting numbers next to names, which sounds clinical until you’re faced with a shortlist where everyone’s excelling.

We agonised over decimal points, argued the merits of mystery shopping scores versus upsell percentages, and still finished the day feeling we’d left a couple of future directors with silver medals. That’s judging for you.

What does this mean for volume hiring?

As the Talent Tent team ramps up our own volume and contact centre hiring work, the day hammered home three things for talent acquisition teams looking for their next agent. 

• Don’t just fish where everyone else is already fishing.
  
  Retail, hospitality, and care are goldmines if you know how to translate the achievements of people into contact centre success.
  
  
• Hire for attitude, train for skills.
  
  It’s a cliche, I know. But systems change yearly; mindset sticks. Hire the right approach, teach the processes.
  
  
• Recognition matters.
  
  Whether it’s an awards night or a shout-out on a cramped Teams call, recognition doubles as a retention tool. People stay where they feel valued.

What’s next? See you on awards night.

Because we scored independently, I genuinely don’t know who’ll walk away with the trophies.
But one thing I do know is, it’ll be one heck of a party. Oh, and some shrewd employer will probably get a hiring queue longer than the bar line!