20 Best Insurance Agent Interview Questions for 2025

Showing up well prepared to interview a potential new employee for your insurance agency can make or break your chances at securing a game changing hire for your business. If you’re hoping to hire a sales superstar, the interview is going to play a crucial role in determining whether or not a prospective hire is going to help take your agency to the next level, or cost you thousands of dollars and countless hours of time invested.

A few of our go-to hiring experts provided their insider knowledge about the insurance agent interview questions they recommend asking your potential new hires—and what you should be looking for in their answers.

How to Structure The Interview Process

When it comes to how many top agents manage their hiring processes, there are typically a few different interview stages to proceed through before making a hire. These could consist of a pre-interview screening (such as written questions a candidate answers when they submit their resume), a phone interview, and often an in-office, face-to-face interview.

Vlad Cherchenko, founder of Insurance Sales Lab, says that an initial phone screening is essential in helping assess a candidate, “Verbal communication skills are key. I always interview people on the phone because a lot of people sell themselves well in person but they’re terrible on the phone.” Keep this in mind if you feel like multiple interview stages are time consuming; each one is meant to help you get to know your applicant in a new way.

Regardless of the interview structure you decide on using, our series of experts recommend that you ask the following questions to your prospective hires at some point during the interview process. They all serve a specific purpose that you should understand going in.

As experienced agent and hiring coach David Peterson puts it, “We have a 100% closing ratio and we’ve never missed out on a candidate. And the reason for that is we’ve only got good candidates left at the end [of the hiring process] who are super serious and qualified. And we know they desire the job because we’ve kicked all the bums out early.”

In other words, each of these questions is meant to eliminate less-than-dedicated prospects from the pool. Preparing your questions ahead of time and knowing what sort of responses you’re looking for are vital keys to your success!

20 Interview Questions And Answers For Insurance Sales Positions

1. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

This is the question that starts off most interviews. Many candidates assume they have to have a specific answer prepped and rehearsed, but it’s actually the opposite.

David says, ”This question is easy. It helps candidates calm down because they don’t have to be perfect on their answers, they can just talk. It loosens them up. I don’t want them to be so nervous that I can’t see the real them.”

Award-winning author and hiring guru Rikka Brandon also wants to see a candidate’s true personality during this initial question. “For interviews, I often talk about the importance of having a deeper dialogue. [That way] you can see if the person is an exact match for what you’re looking for and if you have great compatibility.”

So do your best to make the candidate comfortable so they can give an authentic response. The ultimate goal is really just to get to know more about the candidate as a person.

2. What interests you about the position?

You want to know about your candidate’s interests, of course, but these early questions also tell you a lot about their communication style.

Just like you should be looking for resumes without grammatical errors, you should also be looking for candidates with excellent communication skills. Listen to see if the candidate's responses are clear and concise.

3. What are some of your most memorable successes and accomplishments at work?

Here, you should be tuned in to look for a candidate who shows pride in their past work without being boastful.

It helps if they can point to specific, measurable instances where they made a real difference for their company. These scenarios help demonstrate that they’re capable of generating financial value for your agency.

4. In your opinion, what would a successful new hire do in his or her first 90 days on the job?

The key here is to see that they’ve thought through what the job entails, they have a plan of action, and they’re eager to start hitting sales milestones.

Again, specific and measurable metrics are great, but the most important thing is for the candidate to show optimism and ambition.

5. What has your career been like up until this point?

Here, you’re trying to gauge whether their career has been overall filled with positive experiences or if they only have negative things to say. The actual details of the candidate’s previous positions and job duties are less important; it’s more about how harmoniously they’ve worked with their former bosses and coworkers.

Vlad says, “It doesn’t matter if you’re a leader or in an entry level position, everybody gets coached. So if you’ve had trouble being coached by your previous employers…then you’re going to have an issue here.” Any discord in the candidate’s career history should show itself in their response to this question.

6. What are a few of your top career goals?

Here you want to know if the candidate has big dreams of their own; you don’t want them to simply repeat back to you the advancement opportunities in your own agency.

If the prospect has always dreamed about reaching a particular goal in their professional life, this is when you want them to share it! This will show that they have the drive to keep learning and growing as a team member with your agency.

7. What are some of your professional strengths?

The goal here is to get the candidate to explain what they will bring to the table as an employee. When asking this question make sure to look for any specific responses that align with what you’re looking for.

For example, Vlad likes job candidates who are independent and can problem-solve without much oversight. “There are so many things that can go wrong throughout the day. We need someone who can find answers to their own questions.

“If the system crashes I don’t want someone running over to me asking what to do next or running to other people every time they have a little issue. I need people who are resourceful.”

8. What are your professional weaknesses?

You’ll want to really pay attention to determine whether or not the candidate is being honest with their answer here. Seeing how a candidate responds to stress, insecurity, and challenges paints a clear picture of how that person will perform on the job when conditions aren’t perfect.

If you feel like the candidate is trying to obscure the truth, be prepared to make things a little uncomfortable. You should come ready with a plan to help crack their shell.

David explains, “One of the things I’m looking for is, is the candidate coachable? And that’s really tough to find, so here’s how I do it.

“I always try to find a weakness of theirs, something maybe they’re insecure about and they haven’t been very forthcoming about. And I attack it in the interview. And I’ll typically try to interrupt them when they’re talking, because nobody likes that.”

“I’ll ask them, ‘Do you want the cheat sheet for the interview? And they always look at me like I have two heads. I’ll say, ‘No, I’m serious. Do you want to know how to get the job?’ And they always say, ‘Well, yes.’

“I say, ‘Here’s the deal. We’ve had over 200 applicants for the position.’ And their eyes get big, and I say ‘Yeah, I know. That’s a lot, right? So as you can imagine, for me to choose somebody, I have to remember them out of 200 people. I have to believe you. And as of right now, we’re not there. Your answers have been vague. Some of your timelines don’t match up. So moving forward in today’s interview, I’m going to need a direct answer.’”

Calling out his candidates’ insecurities gives David the opportunity to see if they respond defensively, if they get an attitude, or if they accept the criticism and take it to heart for the rest of the meeting.

9. What are you most and least interested in doing as part of your job?

This is a screening question. If they say, for example, that they’re not interested in calling leads as part of the job, they likely won’t make it to the top of the candidate list.

On the other side of the coin, if their interests align well with the job description, that’s a positive indicator.

10. If I spoke with your manager at [your current job], what would he tell me about your performance? Is there anything that might keep you from earning a glowing review?

This is another instance where honesty is crucial. Vlad says, “I tell people during the final interview that the first time you lie to me on the job is your last day on the job. If you made 50 calls but you come into the morning huddle saying you made 70 calls, you’re going to lie about other things too.”

It almost goes without saying that you should ask for current and past job references. Make sure to take careful note of what the candidate says so you can check it against the answers of their previous employers. You want the candidate to be forthcoming and admit their weaknesses even if it makes them feel uncomfortable.

11. What is your understanding of our company, and how do you think you’ll fit into the role we’re looking to fill?

This question is fundamentally a test to see how much research they’ve done prior to the interview. You want to figure out first and foremost that they actually read the job description and that they understand some of the details about the agency they’re looking to join.

“Some people are applying for the job and you wonder if they even read the whole posting,” Rikka says. You’ll want to look for a candidate who has clearly looked into your company (and agency specifically) and the role before they ever take a phone interview or meet face to face.

12. What are some things you’d change about your current job?

The purpose of this question is twofold: You want to know their answer to the question, but you also want to know how the candidate speaks about their current manager and company. If they’re upbeat and positive but they can share some constructive criticism, that’s great.

Bad-mouthing their boss and complaining about their company, on the other hand, should be a red flag.

13. Why are you leaving your current job?

The same principles apply. Their answer matters, but so does the tone in which they deliver it.

Vlad says, “We don’t want negativity in the office. We want people who are genuinely happy, positive individuals.”

With that in mind, you want to look for someone who demonstrates optimistic hopes for the future when answering this question, rather than dwelling on the negative issues from their current job.

14. If you don’t hit your sales targets at first, how could we help you perform more effectively?

The goal here is to understand what kind of a learner the candidate is and how they respond to criticism, both constructive and otherwise. They might respond that they prefer written notes to reference as they work, for example, or that they’d rather have a manager check in on a daily basis to go over their work.

You want to use this question to help determine if this is someone who is independent and self-motivated. Most agents don’t want to have to look over their team members’ shoulders, so if a candidate can show that they’re intrinsically motivated, that can be a good indicator that they should progress to the next interview stage—or receive an offer.

Vlad says, ”I’m not looking for someone who says they want to be pushed. I want people who are already driven to succeed and all we have to do is give them the tools and resources.”

15. Tell me about a time you simply couldn’t work with a customer. Or, describe a potential lead you wouldn’t want to work with.

You want to use this question as a way to give the prospective hire a chance to showcase their problem solving and interpersonal skills. It should be a red flag if someone says that they’ve never had conflict at work; in that case there is a very high likelihood they are not telling the truth.

A strong candidate will describe the conflict they had with the customer (or the hypothetical lead) and then spend some time explaining how they resolved that problem in a way that was beneficial to all parties.

16. We’re looking for someone who can meet our specific goal of finding one new client every day. Walk me through how you would accomplish that goal?

As an agency owner you may already have a scorecard by which you measure the success of your employees (for example: calls made, appointments set, quotes given, and applications per day/week/month). Vlad tells candidates, “Your job is to acquire 20 new households per month or write $50,000 in premiums.”

Pay close attention to how the candidate describes what they would do to meet the goals you’ve mentioned. If they are able to lay out a coherent, activity-based plan that relatively aligns with your expectations, that is a great indicator. Now is the time for them to show that they take hitting these goals seriously and that they have a plan for how they can guarantee their success.

Still working on your plan for finding clients? Tune into these on-demand webinars to hear how Vlad Cherchenko and Scott Grates bring in tons of new business every month.

17. Walk me through how you’d contact a lead if you had a list of leads in front of you.

Calling leads will likely be a significant portion of your new hire’s job duties. Their skills in lead outreach could set them apart from the crowd.

With that said, your new hires can take some time to brush up on sales conversation techniques using these resources:

• Time-Tested Tips & Real-World Scripts for P&C Agents Expanding Into Life Insurance
• Home Insurance Best Practices & Lead Scripts To Help Grow Your Agency
• 4 Lead Scripts From Award Winning Agents

18. How would you cultivate referrals from existing clients and acquaintances?

It goes without saying that generating referrals is a valuable skill for a candidate to showcase. Referrals cost your agency nothing, and in return they often become the most loyal and long-term customers.

If your agency doesn’t already have a winning referral strategy, this blog post can give you a good starting point.

19. What skills are you currently developing? Have you learned anything new in the past few months?

The candidate’s answer to this question will show you if they’re a self-driven learner or not. If they can rattle off a handful of new skills they’ve mastered or certifications they’ve earned from the past 90-180 days, they’re on the right track for advancing to the next hiring stage.

On the other hand, if they hesitate and say, “Uhhh, well I’m interested in getting a certification in [X skill],” you will know they haven’t taken the initiative to learn anything new recently.

20. How much do you currently make? And how much are you looking for in your next job?

“Pay is going to fluctuate based on the candidate’s expectations,” David says. “I’m going to base the pay off of, one, what I think the candidate is worth, and two, what their expectation is.”

Be wary here of candidates who either high- or low-ball their response to this question. Your ideal candidate will aim for a number that is realistic and will be in the range of meeting both of your needs.

Don’t get too bogged down with waiting to hear the perfect answers to insurance agent interview questions from candidates. Their demeanor is important, too.

David says, “I don’t think there are magical interview questions. We just try to get to know the candidates.”

One of the fundamental goals of your interview process should be to get to know how the candidate’s personality meshes with the rest of your agency’s culture and how they’ll treat leads and customers as part of their job.

Are they friendly? Determined? Polite? You’ll want to look for candidates who convey their personality during the interview so both you and your potential future employee can see whether you get along well—and if they’ll fit seamlessly into the position or whether there could be some culture shock.

“What we’re looking for is passion and some pride,” David says. “I don’t care what their job is, they could be a landscaper for all I care, but if they care about their work and how much change they’ve made at the company—if they take pride in their work—that’s what I care about.”

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