Some tips for your interview

for the sales / customer satisfaction specialist role

with Cerah

WHAT WE DO

Our classes are practical

The central idea behind our approach to teaching English is that language is essentially a
motor skill, so learning a language is very similar to learning to drive or to ride a bicycle.
And just as you learn to ride a bicycle by riding it and no one believes theory is of much
help, we teach English by speaking it, and we don't believe theory is of much help.

With us, students learn English by practice. Mostly speaking.

Consequently, our classes rarely mention grammar. Indonesians are taught grammar for
years and years in school, and the fact that their English is still poor is a testament to
how useless learning grammar is in order to speak a language.

This doesn't mean our classes are merely conversations. First, the teachers don't chat
with the student for the sake of exchanging views: the goal is to make the student speak
as much as possible (thus, the teachers try to speak the least possible themselves).
Second, teachers guide the conversation to
make the student practice his or her weak points. So they don't talk about grammar,
but they have grammar in mind when guiding the conversation. Third, they give the
student feedback about their mistakes. And fourth, they design a practice program with
the students for them to practice outside of the class, pretty much like a fitness trainer
does.
Most of our teachers are from the Philippines

This, we believe, is an advantage because it forces the students to immerse into English
for the whole class, since the Filipino teachers can't speak Indonesian. They have lots of
experience teaching absolute beginners, so not being able to speak any English is not a
problem. We have some good Indonesian teachers as well, and we can offer that option to
those students who believe taking classes with a foreign teacher directly would be too
complicated.

Our classes have a regular schedule, always with the same teacher.

The rationale behind asking students to have a regular schedule is simple: you need
consistent practice to master a motor skill (think, for example, playing the piano). And
practice is more effective if it is distributed over a long time, which requires some
discipline. We believe having a fixed schedule helps keep that discipline.

Likewise, we believe better results can be attained if the teacher doesn't change for a long
time, because the teacher becomes "an expert" in the student.

There are group and individual classes

Students can choose between private one-on-one classes and group classes of up to 4
students.
In individual classes, the student can decide what program to follow (e.g., focus on
business English, focus on specific parts of the grammar they're weaker at, etc.).
Consequently, the program is flexible, based on what the teacher determines are the
needs and goals of the student.

Group classes give the student less control over the program, and also give the student
less opportunity for speaking (the time is shared with other students). However, they're
usually more fun, there's more opportunity for social interaction with peers their age. The
teachers also use tricks to retain the attention of all students even while only one of them
is speaking, like asking one student to make a sentence based on what their classmate
just said, or to correct each other, or just letting them talk to each other without
intervening.

We offer TOEFL / IELTS specific preparation and business English for those who are
interested.
We can test their level before starting

For group classes it's key that the students are matched by their English level so that
beginners are not overwhelmed and advanced students are not bored. Hence we offer
prospects the chance to do a quick online test to know roughly what's the course level
that suits them best. For individual classes we give them the option too. We advise you to
try the test out yourself, so that you get an idea of what the student prospects will see
when they do it: https://cerah.co/test/level/intro?p=ops

Group classes are cheaper

The price of the private classes is Rp 99,000 per hour. The student decides the number of
hours they want to take. A common choice is 2x per week, 1h per meeting, and in that
case the monthly price is Rp 796,000k (4 weeks). In other words

Price for 4 weeks (a month)

1h per week = Rp 396,000 per month

2h per week = Rp 796,000 per month
3h per week = Rp 1188,000 per month
etc.

The price of group classes is 50% of the price of individual classes, and the frequency is
always 2h per week, thus,

Group of 4

2h per week = Rp 396,000 per month (per student)

The students can try before they buy (Trial)

We don't invoice students until they have tried the first class. So they can see what the
class feels like before they decide to spend money. If after the first class they're not
happy with what they see, they can just drop out without paying. But if they like it, we ask
them to pay for the first package of classes (usually a month), including the first one.
Before we can find a teacher, we need to know what schedule they want.

Since teachers have their own commitments, before we can offer teachers to the student
prospects, we need to know what schedule they want to have the classes in. For
individual classes, the student can request any schedule. For groups, we offer them one
of the existing schedules first if there's room (i.e., less than 4 students), but if no existing
group suits them, we try and create a new group

Once we have their preferred schedule, we send the request to our teachers. When
teachers reply, we send the profiles of those teachers who are available to the student
for the student to choose. Once they choose a teacher, the first class is arranged.
We make a test call 24h before the first class happens
In order to make sure that their internet connection is good enough to have online classes
and that they don't spend the first few minutes of the first meeting making technical
adjustments, we call every student some 24h before their first class with the teacher. This
also works as a reminder (they tend to forget they signed up for classes, especially
because they haven't paid yet!).

During this test call we make sure that they are in a good reception spot, with no noise
around, suggest them to move to some other room if there's ambient noise and advise
them to use earphones if they have them available (only if the sound is better!). We also
suggest they use the exact same setting (wifi / location / earphones o ambient
microphone) during the actual class. During the interview we will ask you to make one
of these test calls to a real student.

Our customers

Most of our prospects are young adults in their early 20s or late teens. Some of them have
the financial independence to pay for the classes themselves but, quite often, they need
their parents' agreement before proceeding. Quite frequently, the price seems too high for
them and, in that case, the cheaper group option may be helpful. Occasionally we get
older adults who need to learn English for business purposes or for their job. Sometimes
we also get parents looking for classes for their children.

Our customers find us via ads online or searching for classes on the internet. They
enquire via our website and we chat with them immediately after they enquire. During
the interview we will ask you to chat with a real customer.
The interview

The interview will comprise a practical part of ~30 minutes:

- 10 min chatting with a prospective customer to try and find out how we can help them -
- 10 min making a test call with a real student who has their class scheduled for the
following day

and an interview part of ~30 minutes so that you can tell us more about why you would
like to work with us, what you expect to find in Cerah, and so that you can ask us any
questions you have about the company.

Your goal in this job (and in the interview!)

Your goal is to help, not to sell. We would like to see a satisfied prospect, even if that
means recommending them to find a solution to their problem somewhere else. When
dealing with an individual customer, all the information given above about our product
may be relevant.... or perhaps none of it is. We expect you to find out first what they're
looking for and try to help them get what they want, and it may turn out that what they
want is completely unrelated to testing their level, asking them if it's group or individual,
or finding out some schedule. It is likely that our product can help them (otherwise, they
wouldn't be inquiring), but it's not certain, and the most important thing is that you are
helpful even if our product is not. Focus on helping them, not on making a sale.
Everyone likes being treated in a friendly manner, so we expect you to be friendly,
without getting unduly familiar. It is possible to treat people in a warm and spontaneous
manner while using a language that is grammatically correct and complete.

You will find plenty of unexpected situations when dealing with prospective customers
and it's essential for us that you are resourceful enough to deal with most of them
without needing to ask us. At the same time, we expect you not to be scared of asking
for information from us when that information is needed.

We don't value obedience and submissiveness. We are looking for a smart, creative,
independent thinking person who can solve problems her / his own way, not a robot. So
it's perfectly fine if you don't stick to any specific script, if you can explain to us why you
are doing what you're doing. You may actually get extra points for suggesting us a way to
do things different from what I have laid out above.

Please, don't hesitate to ask us any question you may have, we're always trying to
improve the notes above and we're eager to get your feedback.

Good luck and meet you in the interview!

PS: of course, you can have these notes (or any other) at hand during the interview,
especially the prices while you're chatting with the prospective customer! :-)

Feel free to take a look at our website www.cerah.co for further information. Keep in mind
that all face-to-face classes are suspended due to the covid-19 epidemic, so we're not
offering CerahBareng or Cerah Private classes. However some of the comments there
apply to the CerahOnline classes as well.