In the last two days we’ve discussed the lunch interview and the panel interview.

Yesterday I referred to the panel interview as a group interview but there is another form of group interview that is actually quite different, and is one that I have experienced once.

The group interview I experienced actually involved me being interviewed by a panel of staff from the employer along with a group of other job candidates for the same job!

So it was like a panel interview and a group interview rolled into one.

It occurred right after I graduated from university and had moved overseas to New Zealand. The company – a multi national corporation – was looking for an entry level staff member to join their marketing department and I was on the short list with 8 other people from around the country. The whole interview process actually lasted for five days from Monday – Friday, 8am-5pm each day.

The interview process was quite interesting in terms of how it rolled out. An HR staffer from the company acted as a facilitator and for the first few days, the group of us being considered for the job all met together and worked through a series of group activities that were observed and led by the HR staffer.

During the latter part of the week, senior managers were brought in and met with us as a group and then on an individual basis to interview us in the more traditional one-on-one interview that we’ve probably experienced.

Finally, all 9 of us being considered for the job interviewed as a group by 5 executives from the company who sat in a row behind a table in front of us. So the final “interview” was the panel interview and group interview rolled into one that I mentioned earlier.

I recall one question that we were asked to close this interview where the executive asking the question wanted us to tell them the one reason they should hire us.

I offered to go first and I recall mentioning one of my skills that I thought would benefit them. 7 other people in the group took the same tact and mentioned one thing that they felt was a positive.

The last person to answer the question was a woman who started her answer by suggesting that she had a “total package” of skills and when I saw the HR staffer smiling and nodding her head in agreement, I knew she’d given them the answer they were looking for.

I didn’t get the job – I suspect the woman with the “total package” answer did – but I had a good experience with this interview. Given that it took place over a period of days, it wasn’t really an interview per se but rather a drawn out interview process and series of interviews but it was a great experience to have early in my career and a good learning point for me, too.

The panel interview or group interview is another type of interview you can attend that I alluded to several days ago in the stress interview entry.

The panel or group interview is exactly as it sounds: instead of being interviewed by one person, you get interviewed by more than one person simultaneously.

Early in my career, I experienced a panel interview where I was interviewed by the general manager, operations manager and sales manager for a sales job I was interviewing for. The interview was a comfortable one for me and the three people who interviewed me were very nice people and kept it very informal.

I got the job too, so I’m guessing the interview went ok…

Companies choose to do panel interviews for different reasons but one of the benefits to you is that you only need to answer a question once rather than having different people asking you the same question in separate interviews.

It also gives the other people in the room the chance to ask a follow up question after you’ve answered someone else’s question so I’d be prepared for an in depth discussion. I’d also be prepared for follow up questions and for different styles of interviewing since you’ll be in the room with different personalities.

Perhaps you get interviewed by 3-5 people perhaps representing different functional groups in the company including the group or division you’re looking at joining.

In terms of the people in the interview itself, perhaps it includes the person you’d be working for, one or more of their staff, an HR staff member, among other people.

One of the keys to the panel interview is therefore finding out ahead of time whenever possible:

1. The names of each person attending the interview

2. The role (job title) of each person attending the interview.

This way, you’ll be able to prepare for different kinds of questions knowing who is attending the interview and if possible you’ll be able to familiarize yourself with their names beforehand. If you’re interviewing with several people in a panel interview, unless they’re wearing name tags (!) you’ll probably have forgotten their name the moment they mention it since your head will already be full of everything else that you’re trying to remember.

If you’re lucky enough to have been handed a business card by each or most of the people in the room I’d lay them out in front of you in the order that they are seated without drawing too much attention to it, to help with remembering names.

When answering questions, remember to address everyone in the room and to pay particular attention to the person asking the question.

After the interview, I’d follow up by email with a short thank you note to each person that interviewed you.