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The Art of the Interview

Preparation, location are important when screening new producer candidates

By Kenneth L. Fields, CIC, CPCU | Updated on January 31, 2013
Expenses associated with a bad hire can be two to three times that producer’s salary. If two-thirds of new producers drop out of the insurance industry by their second year (according to the IIABA), there is sound financial reason to select the best possible candidate for the position.

My experience evaluating more than a thousand new producer candidates lends credence to behavioral testing and interviewing as pre-development tools. This article will focus on interviewing, and assume that the candidate has already been tested with acceptable results.

Interview Methodology

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. In other words, if your candidate is presented with a similar situation to one encountered in the past, he is likely to react in a similar fashion—his behavior is predictable. Your objective as interviewer is to examine the candidate’s previous behavior to those he’s likely to encounter in the job. The goal is to predict the candidate’s ability—and willingness—to do the job.  

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