First contact was made via recruiting email. I arranged for a phone interview, which went well enough to lead into a face to face. I was on time but my interview was 25 minutes late. Things come up so I'm not hating. The interview was comfortable and casual. They made really good coffee, which was a bonus. The interviewer was very well spoken but did not talk down to me. He clearly explained everything I asked of him. On to phase 2 of the vetting process. I have a second interview.

I was contacted by phone the same day I applied online and an interview was scheduled the next day. The interview took place at a penthouse corner office. I gather from the lack of decoration, the office is primarily used to impress potential new hires. The guy started by telling me that I should have really dressed better while interviewing for what he stressed was a Fortune 500 company--I was dressed well enough, but that set the tone of the rest of the interview. That included BS stories about people who had no life insurance and suffered for it, loaded questions designed to prop up the company at my expense, and what I interpreted as at best, half-truths, about the unlimited earnings potential of an agent. In other words, he tried his best to make me think just how lucky I was to have this once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a NYL agent. I came in to the interview with a positive attitude toward the company and the position. I heard great things about its training and was really eager at the opportunity to get a start on a career in finance, a field I had very little practical experience in. And then this d-bag shot it all to hell. There was no mutual respect and I felt as if I were being talked-down to, if not straight-up lied-to, the entire time. No thanks.