How do you assess contact centre team leaders before the interview? One way is a 15-minute work simulation. The candidate sorts out an upset customer's order problem while an agent feels blamed, with two AI-played people. You get a scorecard against the minimums you set, the quotes behind it and questions for your interview. A person decides.
Free account, no card. Advisory only: a person makes every hiring decision.
Ian JarvisOnline customerMegan BellCustomer service agent
Ian JarvisAre you the team leader? Good, because I've been on this line forty minutes and I'm done being passed around. …
Ian Jarvis: It's my daughter's birthday present, the party's Saturday, and I want someone to tell me right now how this gets fixed. Not another reference number.
Megan BellAlex, I did put the redelivery request in on Monday, I'm sure I did. It just isn't showing on the courier side and I don't know why.
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Our reading of O*NET's public task list for the job we used, First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers. It shows which skills a pressure calls on, not that the scene measures how someone handles it.
An agent passes on an angry customer. The team leader puts it right and supports the agent, without taking over in a way that undermines them.
Calls on: Social Perceptiveness · Instructing
Public task: “Provide employees with guidance in handling difficult or complex problems or in resolving escalated complaints or disputes.”
When contacts arrive faster than planned, breaks and phone, chat and email cover have to move, and the agents need to know why.
Calls on: Coordination · Management of Personnel Resources
Public task: “Prepare and issue work schedules, deadlines, and duty assignments for office or administrative staff.”
A wrong answer to a customer has to be corrected and the reason explained, while the agent stays willing to take the next difficult contact.
Calls on: Monitoring · Instructing
Public task: “Supervise the work of office, administrative, or customer service employees to ensure adherence to quality standards, deadlines, and proper procedures, correcting errors or problems.”
Before deciding anything, the team leader finds out what lies behind a drop in someone's work: a process, a tool or a gap in training.
Calls on: Social Perceptiveness · Judgment and Decision Making
Public task: “Discuss job performance problems with employees to identify causes and issues and to work on resolving problems.”
Our engine built the first of the three scenes the app suggests for this job, set in an online retailer's contact centre we described for this example; every candidate gets the same situation, role card and two people, who improvise the details.
Contact centre team leader Job title in public job standards (O*NET): First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers
The suggested assessment's other scenes test Negotiation, Monitoring and Judgment and Decision Making (scene 2); Time Management and Management of Personnel Resources (scene 3).
“You are a contact centre team leader at an online retailer's busy in-house contact centre.”
Alex, the AI candidate, was told to start calm and organised, then grow defensive, blame a colleague and give up as the pressure rises.
Ian Jarvis Online customerAre you the team leader? Good, because I've been on this line forty minutes and I'm done being passed around. …
Ian Jarvis: It's my daughter's birthday present, the party's Saturday, and I want someone to tell me right now how this gets fixed. Not another reference number.
Megan Bell Customer service agentAlex, I did put the redelivery request in on Monday, I'm sure I did. It just isn't showing on the courier side and I don't know why.
Megan Bell: I've got six chats waiting, so do you want me to stay on this or go back to the queue?
Alex (AI candidate)Yes, I'm the team leader, Ian, and I'm sorry. Taking a day off for a delivery that never turned up isn't acceptable, so I'll take this from here myself. …
Megan Bell Customer service agentI'll send you the order and my notes now, Alex, but I did log it, and I'd rather not just be sent off like it was all me.
Alex (AI candidate)Megan, nobody's saying it was you. I'll check the system log myself, and if the request didn't go through we'll find out why together later, so please go back to your chats. …
Ian Jarvis Online customerAre you the team leader? Good, because I've been on this line forty minutes and I'm done being passed around. My order was meant to be redelivered yesterday, I took the day off work to wait in, and nobody came. Now this lady tells me it was never even rebooked.
Ian Jarvis: It's my daughter's birthday present, the party's Saturday, and I want someone to tell me right now how this gets fixed. Not another reference number.
Megan Bell Customer service agentAlex, I did put the redelivery request in on Monday, I'm sure I did. It just isn't showing on the courier side and I don't know why.
Megan Bell: I've got six chats waiting, so do you want me to stay on this or go back to the queue?
Alex (AI candidate)Yes, I'm the team leader, Ian, and I'm sorry. Taking a day off for a delivery that never turned up isn't acceptable, so I'll take this from here myself. Megan, send me the order number and whatever you've got from Monday's request, then go back to the queue. Ian, can you confirm the delivery address, and is anything other than Saturday a problem, or is getting it before the party what matters most?
Ian Jarvis Online customerIt's 14 Harlow Road, flat 3, same as it's always been. Getting it before Saturday is all that matters, but I'm back at work Thursday and Friday, so if your plan is me sitting at home again, that's not a plan.
Ian Jarvis: And before she goes, I want to know whether that request was actually put in or not, because someone's story doesn't add up here.
Megan Bell Customer service agentI'll send you the order and my notes now, Alex, but I did log it, and I'd rather not just be sent off like it was all me.
Alex (AI candidate)Megan, nobody's saying it was you. I'll check the system log myself, and if the request didn't go through we'll find out why together later, so please go back to your chats. Ian, fair question: I'll look at Monday's log now and tell you straight what I find. Since you're working Thursday and Friday, would a delivery to your workplace, a nearby collection point, or a safe place at the flat work for you?
Ian Jarvis Online customerWork could do. I'm at the Brookfield depot on Carver Street, but the gatehouse won't sign for anything unless it has my name and a contact number on it, and last time a parcel came there it got sent back. So whoever books this needs to know exactly what to put on it.
Ian Jarvis: And look, I heard her, she's been doing her best, but the last two people told me it was sorted too. I can't tell my little girl her present's lost, so how do I know your booking won't vanish like Monday's?
Alex (AI candidate)I hear you, Ian, and I'll book it myself rather than hand it to anyone else. It'll go to the Brookfield depot on Carver Street with your full name and mobile number on the label, plus a note for the gatehouse, and I'll send you the courier confirmation before you hang up, not a promise. Honestly, I can't tell you yet why Monday's request didn't show. That's something I wasn't told about until five minutes ago.
Ian Jarvis Online customerFair enough, I'd rather hear that than another "it's all sorted." But before you took over, she told me she'd put my redelivery in the notes box on the order, because that's how she was shown to do it.
Ian Jarvis: If that's not how it's supposed to work, she's back on six chats right now doing the same thing for other people. So you fix mine, fine, but who's actually showing her how to do it properly before someone else loses their Saturday?
Alex (AI candidate)Look, I didn't train her, and nobody flagged that the notes box was being used for redeliveries. That's not something I could've known about. If she was shown wrong, that's on whoever showed her, not on me. Right now I'm dealing with your order, Ian, so let me get that booked first.
Ian Jarvis Online customerI'm not asking whose fault it is, I'm asking who sorts it, and you said this was yours now. Two minutes ago you were taking it on yourself, and now it's somebody else's training.
Ian Jarvis: Book mine, fine, and I still want that confirmation before I hang up like you said. But she's typing redeliveries into that notes box right now. So what exactly are you going to tell her to do instead, and when?
Alex (AI candidate)I don't know what the right process is off the top of my head, alright? I'm one person. Megan should've asked if she wasn't sure. I'll talk to her when I've finished yours.
Ian Jarvis Online customerForty minutes ago she was "doing her best," and now it's her fault for not asking? That's exactly how I got passed around in the first place, and it doesn't fill me with confidence about your booking either.
Ian Jarvis: You don't need the whole manual, just what she should do with the next redelivery that lands in her chat instead of typing it into that notes box. Can you tell her that now, before she does it again, and still get me that courier confirmation before I hang up like you promised?
Alex (AI candidate)Fine. Do whatever you want, I can't fix everything. Megan can stop using the notes box and send redeliveries to me until someone tells us otherwise. That's all I've got. Your booking's going in now, so hold on.
Ian Jarvis Online customerRight, that's at least something she can actually do: no notes box, send redeliveries to you. But she's back on her chats and can't hear any of this, so who tells her, and is it before she takes her next one?
Ian Jarvis: And don't tell me "do whatever you want." I've had forty minutes of people giving up on me. I'm holding, so read me the courier confirmation, the delivery day, and exactly what's on that label for the gatehouse before I hang up.
Alex (AI candidate)I'll message her when I'm done here, alright? I can't do two things at once. The booking's going through, Friday to Brookfield depot, Carver Street, your name and mobile on the label, gatehouse note on it. The system hasn't given me a confirmation number yet, so I can't read you one. That's not my fault either.
Ian Jarvis Online customerRight, Friday to the Brookfield depot on Carver Street, my name and mobile on the label, and a note for the gatehouse. I'll take that for now.
Ian Jarvis: I'll keep an eye on my phone for the confirmation number when it comes through, and leave you to message her.
Made by our scene engine and not edited; the people in the scene and the photo are AI-generated too. Recorded on 5 November 2026.
0 of 3 minimums met in this AI-played example scene
Below means this scene showed less of the skill than the minimum. It is a reason to ask in the interview, not a decision.
The line on each bar marks the suggested minimum; the recruiter sets it.
Read the customer's priorities and distrust through turn 3, then at turn 4 treated his process question as an accusation of blame.
Gave Megan a clear hand-off back to the queue at turn 1, but at turn 7 put off passing her the interim rule.
Deflected coaching Megan at turns 4 and 5, then set an interim rule at turn 6 without giving it to her or checking understanding.
Social Perceptiveness is below the minimum in this scene, so the scorecard suggests a question for your interview:
Ask: Tell me about a time someone pressed you with a question that felt like criticism while you were under pressure. How did you work out what they actually needed?
Listen for: Checked what the person was asking, separated the request from blame, and answered the underlying need rather than defending themselves.
All three role skills fall below the required levels: Social Perceptiveness, Coordination and Instructing. Every dimension had enough evidence to score. The strongest evidence is at turn 3: the candidate booked the redelivery personally, added the label details the gatehouse needed and promised a courier confirmation before the call ended. The weakest is at turn 6: the candidate told the frustrated customer "Do whatever you want, I can't fix everything."
One AI-played run shows what the scene and the scorecard look like, not how accurate the scoring is. The scoring AI read the conversation, not the brief. Our research notes · A full sample scorecard
A second AI candidate, told to stay calm, ask one sharp question, then give each task an owner and a time: 3 of 3 minimums met in this AI-played example scene.
Sam (AI candidate)Ian, I'm sorry. You lost a day off and a week's wait isn't acceptable, so I'm taking this over from here. Megan, thanks for re-placing it; go back to your chat queue now, and before you do, just tell me the order number and whether that stock is showing in our own warehouse or with the supplier. …
Ian Jarvis Online customerAre you the team leader? Good, because I've now been told three different things in one call. I ordered a washing machine, paid for next-day delivery, took today off work, and your agent just told me it was never even sent out. It was cancelled four days ago and nobody told me.
Ian Jarvis: And then she tells me she's re-ordered it, which apparently means another five to seven days. I'm not waiting another week with a broken machine and two kids, Sam. I want to know what you're actually going to do about it today.
Megan Bell Customer service agentThe cancellation came from the warehouse, not from me. The stock showed as available when I re-placed it, I was only trying to get him sorted quickly.
Megan Bell: I've got a chat queue backing up behind this too, so I just need to know what you want me to do.
Sam (AI candidate)Ian, I'm sorry. You lost a day off and a week's wait isn't acceptable, so I'm taking this over from here. Megan, thanks for re-placing it; go back to your chat queue now, and before you do, just tell me the order number and whether that stock is showing in our own warehouse or with the supplier. Ian, one question: is today the only day you can be home, or could you take a delivery tomorrow or Saturday if I can get it expedited? I'll come back to you within five minutes with what I can actually confirm, plus a refund of your delivery charge either way.
Megan Bell Customer service agentOrder number's 7731-4489. And I don't know about the stock, honestly. It just said available on the screen, I didn't know there was a difference between our warehouse and the supplier, or where you'd even see that.
Megan Bell: I put the new one through as standard delivery too, because I couldn't work out how to add next-day without charging him again. So am I just leaving it like that and going back on chat, or do you want me to fix it first so it doesn't happen next time?
Sam (AI candidate)Leave it exactly as it is, Megan. I'll upgrade it to next-day myself and waive the charge, so go back to your chat queue now. That stock screen catches a lot of people out, so let's sit down for ten minutes after your shift and I'll show you where the warehouse location and the delivery override are. Ian, I've got the order number, and I'm checking the stock location now. I still need to know whether tomorrow or Saturday works for you, and I'll come back to you within those five minutes.
Ian Jarvis Online customerTomorrow I can't, I'm back at work. Saturday morning works, but only if it actually turns up, because I've already wasted one day sitting by the door.
Ian Jarvis: And I just heard her say she didn't know where to look on her own screen, so forgive me if I don't trust a tracking email anymore. If you book Saturday, tell me exactly how I check it's really on the van and who I call if it isn't, because I'm not ringing in and starting from scratch with someone new again.
Sam (AI candidate)That's fair, Ian, and you shouldn't have to trust a screen again after today. I'm booking Saturday morning now as long as the stock is confirmed in our own warehouse, and I'll tell you within those five minutes whether it is. On Friday afternoon I'll check the order has been picked and loaded and call you myself to confirm, and on Saturday morning you'll get a text with the driver's time slot. I'll note on your account under order 7731-4489 that I own this case, so if anything slips you can ask for Sam Taylor and you won't be starting from scratch.
Ian Jarvis Online customerHang on, I've just opened my banking app while you were talking. I've been charged twice, the original four days ago and another one just now, and there's no refund for the first. So that's two washing machines' worth sitting with you.
Ian Jarvis: And asking for Sam Taylor is all well and good, but last time I asked for a named person they'd gone home and nobody could see the notes. Your app has a delivery section I've never managed to make sense of, so talk me through it now, step by step, exactly where I tap to see it's actually on the van, and what happens to my money and by when.
Sam (AI candidate)You're right to be angry about that, Ian. I'm raising a refund for the first payment from the cancelled order now, plus the next-day delivery charge, and you'll get a confirmation email within the hour; the money usually reaches your account in three to five working days, and I'll check on Friday that it has gone through. I'd rather not guess at the app taps from memory and send you the wrong way, so once I've confirmed the stock I'll open the app on my side and walk you through it step by step while you're still on the line. And so you're not relying on me being in, I'll give you our team's direct number and put a note on your account that any team leader can see and act on. Give me two more minutes on the stock check, which I promised you, and I'll come straight back.
Ian Jarvis Online customerThree to five working days means I'm out the cost of two machines until the middle of next week, and the rent goes out Monday, so I need more than "usually." And I've just remembered Saturday: I'm on an early shift after all, so it's my wife who'll be home, and she's never used your app at all.
Ian Jarvis: So when you walk me through it, do it so I can write it down and explain it to her, step by step: what she taps, what she should see if it's on the van, and what she says to your team if it isn't. And you've had your five minutes, Sam. Where's that stock?
Sam (AI candidate)You're right, Ian, I'm over my five minutes and I'm sorry. The stock is showing in our own warehouse, so Saturday morning is booked under 7731-4489, and I'm adding your wife as a named contact so she can speak to us directly. On the money, I'm marking the refund as urgent so it goes out today; I can't promise your bank posts it before Monday, so if it hasn't landed by Friday afternoon when I call you, tell me and I'll push it further rather than leave you short on the rent. Have a pen ready now, because I'm opening the app on my side and I'll go through it tap by tap so you can write it down for your wife. I'll email you the same steps with our team's number and exactly what she should say if the van doesn't turn up.
Ian Jarvis Online customerPen's ready, but my phone's on four percent and I've got about three minutes before I have to leave for the school run. That's not enough for the app steps and for sorting out what happens if that refund hasn't landed by Monday.
Ian Jarvis: And don't tell me the email will cover it, because I never got an email about the cancellation either. So which one is it, Sam? If it's the app, start now: what's the very first thing my wife taps?
Sam (AI candidate)Then let's not rush the app on four percent, Ian; give me your wife's mobile number and I'll call her myself on Friday afternoon and walk her through the app tap by tap with the order open on my screen. Use your three minutes on the money instead: I've marked the refund urgent today, and on that same Friday call I'll check whether it has landed. If it hasn't, I'll chase our payments team that afternoon so you're not left short on Monday. What's her number, and is she best reached after three on Friday?
Ian Jarvis Online customerHer name's Claire, 07700 900461, and after three on Friday is fine. Ring her then, and put it in that note so whoever's on can see it if you're not.
Ian Jarvis: But if your Friday call slips, Claire's on her own on Saturday with nothing written down. I've got two minutes left and a pen in my hand, so give me just the Saturday part now: if the van hasn't turned up by a certain time, what does she ring, what does she say, and what time is "too late"?
Sam (AI candidate)Got it, Ian: Claire, 07700 900461, Friday after three, and that's going in the account note now so any team leader on shift can see it. Write this down: if Claire hasn't had the driver's time-slot text by 9am Saturday, or the van isn't there by 1pm, that's too late, and she rings straight away. She says: order 7731-4489, Saturday morning delivery booked by Sam Taylor, please read the team leader note on the account. I'm texting our team's direct number to Claire's mobile as soon as we finish, so she isn't relying on your battery or an email, and I'll confirm she received it when I ring her Friday. Go and do the school run.
Ian Jarvis Online customerNine for the text, one o'clock for the van, order number and your name. Got it written down. I'll tell Claire to expect your call Friday after three, and I'll be watching for that refund.
Two AI candidates with different briefs show how two scorecards can differ in the same set-up, not how accurate the scoring is. We wrote both briefs, and AI played and scored them, so the difference is not evidence about real candidates.
Each job gets the skills it needs most, with a suggested minimum, and its own scenes. You can change both. For example:
3 scenes · about 45 minutes · 8 credits per finished candidate (€19.60 on the 20-credit pack)
1 scene · about 15 minutes · 2 credits per finished candidate (€4.90 on the 20-credit pack)
See its example scene →1 scene · about 15 minutes · 2 credits per finished candidate (€4.90 on the 20-credit pack)
1 scene · about 15 minutes · 2 credits per finished candidate (€4.90 on the 20-credit pack)
3 scenes · about 45 minutes · 7 credits per finished candidate (€17.15 on the 20-credit pack)
3 scenes · about 45 minutes · 8 credits per finished candidate (€19.60 on the 20-credit pack)
Tell me about a time someone pressed you with a question that felt like criticism while you were under pressure. How did you work out what they actually needed?
Social Perceptiveness · from the scorecard of the AI-played example above
Tell me about a time you helped an agent with a difficult contact. What did you do, and what happened?
Instructing · our suggestion
Walk me through a shift when contacts came in faster than planned. What did you change?
Coordination · our suggestion
Tell me about a time you noticed the same mistake repeating in your team's replies. What did you do next?
Monitoring · our suggestion
Our suggestions for your interview, not part of the score. Ask every candidate the same questions and note answers against the same points.
The app suggests eight skills in three scenes, about 45 minutes. Pick the two or three that matter most, such as Social Perceptiveness and Coordination, for one scene.
Agents get Service Orientation and Complex Problem Solving in one 15-minute scene. Candidates take it on a phone or a computer, in their own time.
Ask the scorecard's question for each skill below its minimum and note the answers against the same points. The scorecard is advice; a person decides.
Both. Agents get the suggested skills for Customer Service Representatives in one 15-minute scene; team leaders get their own set. See the customer support page for an agent example.
No. It is a written work scene about people and priorities. Keep your own checks of systems, scripts and product knowledge.
Paste a list of up to 50 candidates; each gets a private link by email and takes the scene when it suits them. Inviting is free; credits are used only for candidates who finish.
Yes, as a beta: the scene and the candidate's pages can be in Finnish, but scoring has so far been measured in English only, so compare candidates who took it in the same language.
Our demo is a 15-minute customer service scene: take the candidate's seat, then read your own scorecard. Free, no card.