If you apply for a chat, email or remote support role, there is a good chance the employer will test your typing and writing before they meet you. Even call centre agents type notes during every call. Fast, accurate typing gives you more time to think about the customer, and clear writing means fewer customers write back confused.
Typing: accuracy first, then speed
Typing tests usually measure two things: how many words you type per minute and how many mistakes you make. Accuracy matters more than you think. A fast reply full of errors looks careless and can give a customer wrong information, such as a wrong amount or a wrong date.
How to improve:
- Practise a little every day rather than a lot once a week. Ten to fifteen minutes is enough.
- On a computer, learn to touch type: fingers resting on the middle row, eyes on the screen. Free typing sites in your browser can guide you.
- On a phone, use both thumbs and learn your keyboard's shortcuts, but also practise on a computer if you can reach one at school, a hub or a cafe, because many support jobs use a full keyboard.
- Turn autocorrect on, but always reread. Autocorrect can change a customer's name or an order number.
Clear writing for support
Good support writing is short, correct and friendly. Use these rules:
- One idea per sentence. Long sentences are hard to read on a small screen.
- Plain words. Say "check" instead of "ascertain", "send" instead of "transmit".