Effective Work Samples for Hiring AI Support Agent Enablement Specialists

The role of AI-Enhanced Support Agent Enablement has become increasingly critical as organizations integrate artificial intelligence into their customer service operations. These specialists bridge the gap between technology and human agents, ensuring that support teams can effectively leverage AI tools to enhance customer experiences while maintaining the human touch that complex issues require.

Evaluating candidates for this role presents unique challenges. Traditional interviews may reveal theoretical knowledge, but they often fail to demonstrate a candidate's practical ability to train, coach, and support agents in real-world scenarios. The most successful enablement specialists possess a rare combination of technical AI understanding, instructional design expertise, and interpersonal coaching skills.

Work samples and role plays provide invaluable insights into how candidates approach the multifaceted challenges of AI-enhanced support. By observing candidates in action, hiring managers can assess their ability to simplify complex AI concepts, design effective training programs, troubleshoot integration issues, and measure the impact of AI adoption on agent performance and customer satisfaction.

The following exercises are designed to evaluate candidates across the essential competencies required for success in AI-Enhanced Support Agent Enablement. Each activity simulates real challenges these specialists face daily, from coaching hesitant agents to designing comprehensive enablement programs. By incorporating these work samples into your interview process, you'll identify candidates who can truly drive successful AI adoption in your support organization.

Activity #1: Agent Coaching Role Play

This role play assesses the candidate's ability to coach support agents through AI tool adoption challenges. Effective enablement specialists must be able to address agent concerns, demonstrate tool functionality, and provide constructive feedback in a supportive manner. This exercise reveals the candidate's coaching style, empathy, technical communication skills, and ability to build agent confidence with AI tools.

Directions for the Company:

• Select an employee to play the role of a resistant or struggling support agent who is having difficulty adopting an AI tool.
• Provide the candidate with information about your AI tool's capabilities and common agent adoption challenges 24 hours before the interview.
• Create a specific scenario for the role play (e.g., "The agent is concerned that the AI tool is suggesting incorrect responses" or "The agent feels the AI is making their job redundant").
• Allow 15-20 minutes for the coaching session, followed by 5-10 minutes for feedback and improvement.
• Observe how the candidate builds rapport, addresses concerns, demonstrates value, and provides actionable guidance.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the information provided about the company's AI tool and common adoption challenges.
• Prepare to conduct a coaching session with a support agent who is struggling with or resistant to using the AI tool.
• During the role play, demonstrate how you would:
• Build rapport and create a safe space for the agent to express concerns
• Address specific challenges the agent is facing
• Provide practical tips and demonstrations of effective AI tool usage
• Set clear action items and follow-up plans
• Your goal is to increase the agent's confidence and competence with the AI tool while addressing their underlying concerns.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the role play, the interviewer will provide feedback on one aspect you handled well and one area for improvement.
• You'll then have 5 minutes to demonstrate how you would adjust your approach based on this feedback.
• This tests your coachability and ability to adapt your enablement approach to different agent needs.

Activity #2: AI Response Evaluation and Enhancement

This technical exercise evaluates the candidate's ability to assess AI-generated responses and guide agents on improving them. A key responsibility in this role is helping agents understand when and how to edit AI suggestions to maintain brand voice, accuracy, and empathy. This activity reveals the candidate's understanding of effective customer communication, AI capabilities, and ability to teach others how to partner with AI effectively.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare 3-5 customer support scenarios with corresponding AI-generated responses that have room for improvement.
• Include a mix of technical issues, policy questions, and emotional customer situations.
• For each scenario, include the customer's original question, the AI's suggested response, and context about your company's tone and policies.
• Allow the candidate 30 minutes to complete the exercise.
• Look for the candidate's ability to identify both strengths and weaknesses in the AI responses, and their skill in providing clear guidance for agents.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review each customer scenario and the corresponding AI-generated response.
• For each response:

1. Evaluate what the AI did well and what needs improvement
2. Edit the response to demonstrate how it should be enhanced
3. Write brief guidance explaining to an agent:
   • Why certain changes were needed
   • What patterns to watch for in similar AI responses
   • When to use the AI suggestion as-is, when to edit it, and when to craft a completely new response

• Your goal is to demonstrate how you would help agents develop critical thinking skills about AI-generated content while improving response quality and efficiency.

Feedback Mechanism:

• The interviewer will select one of your evaluations and provide feedback on one strength and one area for improvement.
• You'll have 10 minutes to revise your guidance based on this feedback.
• This tests your ability to refine your instructional approach and technical guidance.

Activity #3: AI Enablement Program Design

This planning exercise assesses the candidate's ability to design a comprehensive AI enablement program for support agents. Success in this role requires strategic thinking about training pathways, measurement frameworks, and continuous improvement cycles. This activity reveals the candidate's instructional design expertise, understanding of change management, and ability to create scalable enablement solutions.

Directions for the Company:

• Provide the candidate with information about:
• Your support team structure and current skill levels
• The AI tools being implemented and their capabilities
• Business goals for AI implementation (e.g., efficiency targets, quality improvements)
• Timeline and resource constraints
• Allow the candidate 45-60 minutes to develop their program outline.
• Evaluate their approach to needs assessment, training design, measurement, and continuous improvement.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Design a 90-day enablement program to help support agents effectively adopt and utilize the AI tools.
• Your program outline should include:

1. Initial needs assessment approach
2. Training curriculum with learning objectives and delivery methods
3. Practice opportunities and certification process
4. Ongoing support mechanisms (e.g., office hours, knowledge base)
5. Success metrics and measurement approach
6. Timeline with key milestones

• Create a one-page visual representation of your program (can be hand-drawn or digital)
• Prepare to explain your rationale for each element of the program and how it addresses potential adoption challenges.
• Your goal is to demonstrate how you would systematically enable agents to become proficient and confident AI users.

Feedback Mechanism:

• The interviewer will provide feedback on one strength of your program design and one area that could be enhanced.
• You'll have 15 minutes to revise one section of your program based on this feedback.
• This tests your ability to iterate on enablement strategies and incorporate stakeholder input.

Activity #4: AI Adoption Troubleshooting Scenario

This problem-solving exercise evaluates the candidate's ability to diagnose and address systemic issues affecting AI tool adoption. Enablement specialists must be able to analyze performance data, identify root causes, and implement targeted interventions. This activity reveals the candidate's analytical thinking, stakeholder management, and creative problem-solving abilities.

Directions for the Company:

• Create a scenario where AI tool adoption or effectiveness is falling below expectations.
• Provide the candidate with:
• Usage statistics showing adoption patterns
• Agent feedback (quotes or survey results)
• Customer satisfaction data
• Examples of cases where AI is underperforming
• Information about the training that has already been conducted
• Allow 30-45 minutes for the candidate to analyze the information and develop recommendations.
• Look for their ability to identify root causes and propose practical, targeted solutions.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the data provided about the AI adoption challenges.
• Analyze the information to identify potential root causes of the issues.
• Prepare a troubleshooting plan that includes:

1. Your diagnosis of the top 2-3 issues affecting adoption or effectiveness
2. Evidence supporting each diagnosis
3. Recommended interventions for each issue
4. How you would prioritize these interventions
5. How you would measure the impact of your interventions

• Be prepared to explain your reasoning and how you would communicate your plan to different stakeholders (agents, managers, executives).
• Your goal is to demonstrate your analytical approach to solving complex enablement challenges and your ability to drive meaningful improvements.

Feedback Mechanism:

• The interviewer will provide feedback on one strength of your analysis and one area that could be enhanced.
• You'll have 10 minutes to refine one of your recommended interventions based on this feedback.
• This tests your ability to incorporate new perspectives and adapt your approach to organizational realities.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should we allocate for these work samples in our interview process?

Each activity requires 30-60 minutes to complete, plus time for feedback and discussion. We recommend selecting 1-2 activities that best align with your specific needs rather than attempting all four. The coaching role play and enablement program design typically provide the broadest view of a candidate's capabilities if you must choose.

Should we provide candidates with information about our actual AI tools?

While using your actual tools creates the most realistic assessment, you can modify the exercises to use generic AI tool descriptions if confidentiality is a concern. The key is providing enough context for candidates to demonstrate their enablement approach. Consider creating a simplified version of your tool documentation or capabilities list specifically for interview purposes.

How should we evaluate candidates who have experience with different AI tools than what we use?

Focus on the candidate's enablement methodology and approach rather than specific tool knowledge. The best enablement specialists can transfer principles across different technologies. Look for candidates who ask insightful questions about your tools' capabilities and limitations, as this demonstrates their ability to quickly understand new systems.

Can these exercises be conducted remotely?

Yes, all four activities can be adapted for remote interviews. For the coaching role play, use video conferencing. For the written exercises, use collaborative documents or screen sharing. Some companies find it valuable to use asynchronous methods for the program design exercise, allowing candidates more time for thoughtful planning before discussing their approach in a live interview.

How do we ensure these exercises don't disadvantage candidates without prior AI experience?

Provide clear context about the AI tools' capabilities and limitations before the exercises. The focus should be on the candidate's enablement skills, change management approach, and ability to translate technical concepts for non-technical users. Strong candidates without specific AI experience can still demonstrate these core competencies if given appropriate context.

Should we customize these exercises for different levels of seniority?

Yes, adjust expectations and scope based on the role's seniority. For junior positions, focus more on the tactical exercises (coaching and response evaluation). For senior roles, emphasize the strategic components (program design and troubleshooting) and expect more sophisticated measurement frameworks and stakeholder management approaches.

The AI-Enhanced Support Agent Enablement role continues to evolve as AI technology advances. The most successful practitioners in this field combine technical understanding with strong instructional design skills and emotional intelligence. By incorporating these work samples into your hiring process, you'll identify candidates who can truly drive successful AI adoption and maximize the value of your AI investments in customer support.

For more resources to enhance your hiring process, check out Yardstick's AI Job Description Generator, AI Interview Question Generator, and AI Interview Guide Generator.

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