Sales and Marketing Group, Inc. Account Manager Interview Questions
& Process

I saw this opening on Monster and applied. I got a call back within an hour and scheduled my first interview for the next day. It was pretty fast, I was done in about 30 minutes. Everyone there seemed young, like under 25. The second interview was like shadowing someone. I hung out with an intern, a college junior, and we went around knocking on doors to sell energy. They kept saying it was customer service, not sales, but it felt like sales to me since we were trying to get people to sign up for something. This went on all day, from 1:30 PM to 7:30 PM. After that, they took me back for a final interview, but I told them I wasn't interested anymore. The dealbreaker was when we went to a woman's house, and she started yelling that she had already signed up and it wasn't saving her money like they claimed.

This was a 3 step process. First, I had a 20-30 minute sit down with the Manager. Second, I did a job shadow with a current Account Manager. Third, there was a final interview with the Manager. They make decisions quickly, the whole thing took about a week. It felt like the company was growing fast.

I heard from SMGI through Monster and had an initial interview that went well. They talked about a great work environment and culture, but looking back, the first red flag was that they didn't really explain the job responsibilities. When I asked what I'd be doing, they were vague and made it sound like a creative role involving advertising and brand image. Then, I went for a second interview, which was job shadowing. I was driven 40 minutes away, and about halfway there, I realized the job was actually door-to-door sales. They never mentioned this before; otherwise, I wouldn't have gone. I shadowed someone doing door-to-door sales (or sign-ups), and they were good at it. They tried to convince me about the potential to make a lot of money in 2 years, but I don't think being miserable for 2 years is worth it. They offered me a third interview, but I declined. Also, the hours are unusual, from 11:30 am to 9 pm, which wasn't what I wanted and wasn't communicated until the second interview. If you want a life and to be comfortable, this isn't the job for you.