Here's how you can prepare for a panel interview in sustainable design.

It's important to research the company your applying for, take notes of the team members, the company's mission and the type of projects they've worked on. As important as knowing your sustainable design knowledge, it's important to be able to know about the company, because more often then not the company wants to make sure you are interested in their firm specifically and they want to know what it is that draws you.

Sometimes as tedious as it is, it means creating different versions of your portfolio that stand out in different situations. For example if there is a company that focuses on residential typology, have a portfolio showcasing more of those type of projects, or if a company does BIM, have a version with more Revit work. This can give you a little extra edge that counts.

If you do your research ahead of time, having some talking points by finding questions you may generally be wondering about their background can provide multiple benefits. 1. It lets then panel know you have researched the company, which shows that you are willing to do the work. 2. It shows you care about working for this company specifically and that you take interest in the team and specifics of this company, not just any company. 3. It can built rapport with the individual members, after all they will have a huge influence if you get hired.

Communication is the key to success. Prepare yourself for many kinds of questions. Keep your notes in points and talk in points too. Avoid lengthy paragraphs after first couple of sentences people will not pay attention. Capturing the audiences attention is the key to a successful presentation.

I always review what I'm going to say about my portfolio before hand, in pretty much the same process if I'm going to a review. Nothing kills the momentum of an interview like stuttering over words and going on too long about details. If interviews give you anxiety like they do for me, it definitely makes me feel more in control to feel confident I know what I will say ahead of time and even have an idea on how much time I want to spend through practicing.

In a job there is always going to be stress, or unforeseen circumstances you don't want an employee your depending on to completely crack on. Employers just want to make sure the people they hire are capable of handling stress and can carry their own weight. The only way to do this, is during the interview process, do some screening. This type of screening will come at the forms of either questions asking about your weaknesses or examples of how you have overcome difficult situations. It is more than worth it, to reflect on your previous job experiences and think of a few examples where you demonstrated being able to accomplish the job. It won't hurt, but can definitely come up.