If you’re applying for a management job, you should show the interviewers your management skills and leadership philosophy, even if you’ve never been a manager before.
Use The Muse to find a job at a company with a culture you love. Select the career path that aligns with you:
In addition to other common interview questions, this article will give you 10 questions to think about and be ready to answer in your interview for a management position. Even if your potential employers don’t ask all of these questions, getting ready to answer them will help you understand your strengths and how you handle management and leadership. This way, you’ll be able to easily talk about your skills no matter what question you’re asked.
As an executive coach and organizational consultant for mission-driven businesses, I’ve helped a lot of managers and leaders show off their skills and knowledge in job interviews and with the media. One thing I’ve learned is that it’s better to tell a good story about someone’s skills to show a current or potential manager or leader what they can do than to ask them to believe me.
Preparing for a job interview can be daunting especially when it’s with a high-performing company like Agon Management Group. As a leading provider of sales, marketing, and customer acquisition services, Agon is selective in their hiring process. They look for driven strategic thinkers who thrive in a fast-paced environment.
To help you ace your Agon interview, I’ve compiled some insider tips and sample questions based on feedback from current employees. With the right preparation you can walk into that interview room feeling confident and ready to impress.
Overview of Agon Management Group
First, let’s get an overview of Agon Management Group. Founded in 2007, Agon partners with Fortune 500 companies to provide outsourced sales, marketing, and customer acquisition services. They focus on increasing brand awareness, generating leads, and driving revenue for their clients.
Agon utilizes an innovative entrepreneurial model Their sales and marketing teams function as individual profit centers within the organization This creates an energetic, competitive culture focused on exceeding targets. Agon operates over 150 branch offices across North America.
The company has received numerous awards and accolades for its rapid growth and strong performance. Their driven team and unique business model have enabled Agon to carve out a niche for themselves in the marketing services industry.
Agon’s Hiring Process
The typical Agon hiring process consists of two or three interviews, either in-person or via video call.
The initial phone screening focuses on your qualifications, career motivations, and fit for the role. Strong candidates are invited for subsequent interviews with department heads.
Here’s a breakdown of what to expect:
-
Screening Interview (30-45 mins) – Discussion of your resume, career goals, and relevant experience.
-
One-on-One Interview (60-90 mins) – Deeper behavioral and situational interview questions.
-
Panel Interview (60-90 mins) – Interview with 2-3 department heads together. Focuses heavily on competency-based questions.
Agon’s interviews are described as conversational and relaxed, but still thorough. Hiring decisions can happen quickly, sometimes within 24 hours. The questions aim to assess your strategic thinking, leadership potential, and cultural fit.
Now let’s look at some sample questions and how to ace them.
Agon Management Group Interview Questions and Answers
Here are some of the most common Agon interview questions based on insider feedback:
1. Why do you want to work at Agon Management Group?
This question tests your knowledge of the company and your motivation for joining. Interviewers want to know you’ve done your research and are excited about Agon specifically.
Sample Answer: I’m interested in Agon because of your unique entrepreneurial business model. The opportunity to manage my own profit center aligns perfectly with my goal of building a career in sales leadership. Agon’s culture of innovation, collaboration, and healthy competition resonates with me. I’m motivated by positions where I can showcase my strategic thinking and exceed challenging targets. For these reasons, I believe I would thrive at Agon and contribute to the team’s success.
2. How would you describe your work style?
With this behavioral question, interviewers want to understand your working preferences and see if they align with Agon’s fast-paced environment.
Sample Answer: I would describe my work style as energetic, driven, and highly collaborative. I thrive in fast-paced, dynamic workplaces where no two days are the same. I love strategic problem-solving and consistently challenge myself to deliver innovative solutions. At the same time, I prioritize communication and enjoy working closely with team members to achieve shared goals. I’m comfortable taking the lead on projects but also know when to seek others’ perspectives. My ability to balance independent and collaborative work allows me to adapt and thrive in any environment.
3. Tell me about a time you exceeded targets in a previous role. What strategies did you employ?
Agon wants top performers comfortable with exceeding expectations. Share a story that highlights your ambitious nature and strategic thinking.
Sample Answer: As a sales representative for XYZ Company, I was tasked with growing revenue from an existing client by 10% year-over-year. Rather than just pitching our newest offerings, I took time to understand the client’s business objectives. This allowed me to develop a tailored upsell strategy focused on ROI. I helped the client optimize their use of current products and highlighted how increased investment could support their growth plans. Through persistent communication and maintaining a consultative approach, I ultimately increased revenue from this account by over 15% year-over-year. This experience demonstrated how combining strategic planning with tenacity leads to game-changing results.
4. Tell me about a time you had a conflict with a team member. How did you handle it?
Since collaboration is central to Agon’s culture, they want to know you can resolve interpersonal challenges professionally. Share an example focused on communication, empathy, and finding solutions.
Sample Answer: As a project manager, I once had a disagreement with a developer on my team over project timelines. I knew he had valid concerns about unreasonable deadlines. Rather than assert my authority, I made an effort to hear his perspective. We had an open and honest dialogue about needs on both sides. Together, we re-evaluated the schedule and came up with a plan that realistically met stakeholder needs while addressing his workload constraints. This experience showed me that patience and empathy go a long way in resolving conflict professionally. I now make a point to proactively communicate with team members to ensure alignment from the start.
5. How would you go about training new associates at Agon? Explain your approach.
Here interviewers want to assess your ability to coach and develop junior team members. Share your strategies focused on clear communication, ongoing mentoring, and instilling core values.
Sample Answer: When training new associates, I would focus on ensuring they have the proper foundations to become productive and successful team members. First, I would clearly communicate performance expectations, company values, and best practices from day one. Ongoing coaching is also essential, so I would establish a mentoring relationship focused on providing regular feedback and advice as they navigate new challenges. It’s also important that training is an interactive process, so I would advocate utilizing shadowing, role play, and group discussions rather than just presentations. My goal would be developing associates’ skills, confidence, and strategic thinking ability to prepare them for long-term growth at Agon.
6. If you were hired, what steps would you take to ramp up quickly?
Agon thrives on driven individuals who can make an immediate impact. Share the strategies you’d use to excel rapidly in a new role.
Sample Answer: If hired at Agon, I would take proactive steps to ensure I’m ramping up from day one. To deeply understand the role, I would shadow team members, ask thoughtful questions, and absorb as much information as I can about Agon’s processes, systems, and customers. From there, I would focus on building relationships across my department and key partner teams. Strong cross-functional relationships accelerate learning and productivity in a new role. Finally, I would create 30, 60, and 90 day goals across different role dimensions to stay focused on growth and measurable outcomes. My priority would be adding value immediately by leveraging the knowledge of my colleagues while also establishing myself as an innovative contributor.
7. Describe a time you effectively presented a business strategy or proposal to leadership. What steps did you take?
Presentation skills are highly valued at Agon. Walk through a story that displays strong communication skills and strategic thinking.
Sample Answer: As a marketing manager proposing a new social media strategy, I knew a strong presentation to leadership was critical for buy-in. I started by thoroughly researching past campaign performance and our target buyer personas. This allowed me to develop an audience-focused strategy with compelling benefits. My next focus was crafting a visually impactful slide deck oriented around concise text and impactful graphics. During the presentation, I engaged leaders by outlining goals, anticipating questions, and speaking confidently to my recommendations. Finally, I provided a clear post-launch plan for measuring results, which demonstrated a thoughtful strategy. My preparation and high-impact delivery earned leadership buy-in and resulted in a very successful campaign launch.
8. Why should we hire you over other candidates?
This question puts you on the spot to advocate for yourself and summarize your top selling points. Enthusiastically share your most relevant strengths and achievements.
Sample Answer: You should choose me over other candidates because I possess all the attributes you look for in a top performer at Agon. I’m a driven self-starter who has consistently exceeded targets by combining strategic thinking with tenacious execution. I know how to strategically persuade clients because I take the time to deeply understand their needs first. At the same time, I’m an enthusiastic team player who motivates colleagues by communicating openly and leading by example. These qualities, along with my strong work ethic and relentless focus on growth, will allow me to immediately thrive in this high-impact role. Simply put, I’m uniquely positioned to hit the ground running and make dynamic contributions to Agon’s continued success.
9. Do you have any questions for me?
Agon wants to hire those
What to Know Before Your Management Interview
I’d like to start by telling you a few things that will help you prepare for your management interview.
How Have You Successfully Delegated Tasks?
Managers have to be cognizant of how work is distributed throughout their team. They need to know exactly who does what and who makes the final decisions about tasks that are shared, and they need to make sure that everyone knows about these things. For example, who needs to see the content of an email before it is sent? And does the communications director or email manager have the final say if they disagree with something in the message? Hiring managers want to know that you understand how important it is for workers to know what their job is. They also want to know that as a manager, you won’t try to take on all the work yourself to make sure it gets done, but that you’ll make sure it gets done by giving it to your reports.
For this question, you could talk about what you did when the team had a lot of work to do and you helped them divide it up and work together, what you did when it wasn’t clear who was responsible for what and how you helped clear it up, or what you did when the team needed more resources because of a deadline. Companies also want to see that you know your team well—for example, who is good at what tasks, who can handle more work, who needs more time off, and who needs tasks that will push them to grow.
Here are some things not to do when answering this question:
- Complain about a boss who couldn’t delegate
- Tell stories about how hard it is to get work to people without saying how you’ve fixed the problem.
- Not taking into account the difficulties that can come with delegating
GROUP INTERVIEWS! How to PASS a Group Interview!
FAQ
How do you handle underperforming team members interview questions?
How to handle a difficult employee interview question?
How do you deal with a difficult boss interview question?
