Complex feelings about interview
Just completed my first ever interview with a pretty well-known insurance agency, and I’m left with… mixed feelings.
For context: I have strong experience selling standard/“low-risk” policies, and over the last year I’ve also gotten more comfortable handling non-standard/high-risk business due to a merger at my current company.
The interview itself seemed to go really well. I answered the typical sales/interview questions confidently, and the hiring manager seemed impressed. One thing they kept circling back to was my current commission structure and why I’d even consider leaving it behind. I explained that while the money is good, I’m trying to move away from the high-volume inbound call center environment and into an agency setting that blends sales with customer service and relationship-building. They told me that was exactly what their office focused on; a mix of inbound, outbound, and service work which honestly sounded perfect.
That said… there were a few odd moments..
Multiple managers were present and awkwardly looked at each other to decide who should ask the next question.
The district manager got up mid-answer while I was speaking to chat with a walk-in customer. When she came back, she completely lost track of where we were in the interview
Still, I left feeling like we aligned really well. So I was pretty shocked when less than an hour later I got a text saying they decided not to move forward. Now I’m wondering
Did I answer the “why do you want to leave?” question wrong?
Is there something agency owners look for that I’m missing?
Or were the red flags I noticed actually bigger than I realized?
Would genuinely appreciate any insight from people who’ve worked in agency environments or made the transition from call-center sales.