
Nov 29, 2016 ● Kate Lopaze
How to Survive Your Group Interview
These days, companies are all about efficiency. And sometimes, unfortunately, that leads to a Hunger Games-ish approach to hiring, where multiple people are brought in for a single position interview. Let’s face it—unless you’re truly at ease in front of a group of people talking about yourself, this kind of job interview can feel about the same as that nightmare where you’re sitting in school, and keep getting flubbing answers in front of the entire class.
It doesn’t have to be that way—let’s look at ways to tackle the group interview process (either with a crew of fellow interviewees or a panel of interviewers) so that you’re looking good and increasing your chances for getting to the next round.
The Panel Interview (a.k.a. The Firing Squad)
When you walk into a job interview room and multiple people from the company are already there, your resume in front of them, lined up like the Supreme Court waiting to interrogate your fitness for the job, it can be intimidating. As a rule, one-on-one interactions are easiest for us to handle. This panel interview adds a number of dynamics: different personalities, different expectations, possibly different levels of involvement in the job you’re seeking. That’s a lot of navigate without warning (or at least without knowing ahead of time what the interviewers would be like). Let’s look at some top strategies for dealing with the panel interview.1. Don’t show fear.
It’s true in the animal kingdom, and it’s true on the job hunt. When you walk into the room, whether you expected to be greeted by a panel or not, don’t be intimidated. Fall back on the interview skills you’ve been practicing. (You have been practicing those, right?)- Make eye contact as you walk in the room.
- Shake hands like a boss.
- Don’t slouch! Keep your posture straight, but not too rigid. You want to look confident, not stiff.