Zenith Insurance Interview Questions & Reviews

Interviewed Nov 2011 in Woodland Hills, CA (took a day)

This was a curious interview. It included a panel interview of the employees I would be managing, and the panel included an internal candidate that had also applied for the job. I had been previously told by the recruiter that the internal candidate was not being considered because of lack of management experience. The employees stressed that they were a "very high performing team", and most of their questions were about how I would manage them, what changes I would make, etc. I did my best to reassure them that I was not going to fix things that were not broken, but that all groups, even high performing one, should strive to improve.

I then met with the hiring manager. In general I thought the interview went well - lots of head nodding and positive body language - and the interview went the full time allotment of 1 hour. I left thinking that I had nailed the interview.

The next day the recruiter said they would be passing on me. The feedback was that I "talked too much and was too laid back". Huh??? I have no idea how that combination is even possible - and who ever heard of an interview where the candidate is not supposed to talk?? I was really confused - but in hindsight, I suppose it was for the best - I suspect whoever they do hire for that position is going to have their hands full trying to manage a group that believes they do not need to improve.