Best Ways to Prepare For a Panel Interview

Panel interviews condense multiple-round sessions into one interview with key managers. It is you and them. The best way to impress those hiring managers? Prepare well, have confidence and bring your best self.?

By Ciarra Maraj

Have you been on a multi-round interview with different people? That is a panel interview. They feature two or more representatives from the company interviewing you at once.

Group interviews consist of candidates who applied for the same role interviewed together. Those meetings are the quickest way to fill a job with a high volume of applicants. They are also becoming extinct since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Group interviews do not have a place,” said technical recruiter, Dan Roth. “They are too defeating to somebody's mental health.”?

Back to panel interviews. They can be intimidating; just you, multiple managers, one session, all the pressure. We spoke with technical recruiters and career coaches for the best tips and guidance on managing them.?

Know this: The key to excelling in an interview is confidence mixed with knowing what you have to offer. Interviews are merely introductions, so think about how you would introduce yourself to someone. Would you want to be nervous or highlight the best parts of yourself??

Preparing For The Panel Interview

Understanding why panel interviews happen is the first step to being ready for one.?

“[The] goal of [panel interviews] is to help make an unbiased decision. So there have to be multiple key stakeholders [present], which is very, very important,” said LaTasha Williams, a recruitment strategist and career coach.??

Do your research. Find out more about the role, the company and the people on your panel. Having this information makes answering questions easier.?

Read the job description and responsibilities to understand what will be asked, said digital marketing and tech recruiter Kelli Hrivnak. Think about how your background aligns with the requirements of the role so you can give clear answers.

Well-versed research can set you apart. A candidate stood out to a senior recruiter Jessica Hicks because of the amount of research they did.

“They knew exactly what we were pretty much looking for overall and could speak really well to why their experience matched perfectly with the job,” Hicks said.?

Senior recruiter Chris Lonas said being familiar with the panelists is an advantage.?

“Familiarize yourself with their face,” Lonas said. “So when you actually can go into that panel interview, you can literally introduce yourself to them knowing who they are…people like to know that you know who they are before they come in. It's kind of like this empowerment feeling.”?

What will be asked? Here are common panel interview questions to be ready for:?

• Tell me about yourself.?
• What do you know about this company?
• What makes you the best candidate for this role??
• Based on what you have seen of the position, how do you think you could make an impact?
• Why do you want to work for this company?

These questions are general but are just as important to prepare for as the company-specific questions. They are asked to start and may seem simple to answer on the fly, but may disqualify you if you are unprepared.

Gaining Confidence and Maintaining Eye Contact?

Confidence may seem natural for some, but the definition is “the state of feeling certain about the truth of something.” The more you know about something, the better it feels.?

But panel interviews have circumstances most interviews do not.

“When we're faced with a panel, even the most confident person, [they’re] going to see multiple eyes looking at them and there's this thought that goes through their head, well who do I look at?” Roth said.?

Look at everyone.?

“A lot of times when you're on a panel interview, you have people that are asking you questions, and it typically is almost like one person takes that role of asking questions, and the others are kind of just over there taking notes,” Lonas said. “And it's kind of awkward because the people that are taking notes also want to be acknowledged. So I usually tell people, ‘If you're going to be in that situation, acknowledge them, acknowledge the other people.’”

If you do not maintain eye contact with everyone, it can negatively affect their perception of your character.

“The other interviewers feel left out like, ‘OK did they not look at me because I am a woman? Did they not look at me because I'm this?’ And so it brings a lot of questions of what type of person this is solely on that little thing,” Hicks said.?

Williams tells her clients to prepare as many mic-drop moments as possible for meetings. Mic-drop moments are impressive things you have done that do not leave room for doubt about your candidacy. Williams cited an example: “I single-handedly handle over 500,000 phone calls per day.” That is more powerful than, “I answer phones.”

The point is to leverage your experience and accomplishments in a genuine manner.

High achievers are the people who go above and beyond in their job, and may not recognize moments they should tout. Managers ask high achievers to do additional tasks because they are trusted to complete them, Williams said.

“They fail to mention those things as mic-drop moments because they are so automatic,” Williams said.?

Keep a file with the great things you have done that have received recognition. I had a mentor refer to it as a “kudos” folder. These become measurable results and mic-drop moments to use later.?

Another way to build confidence is by doing what Hicks calls “power poses.” It helps release tense energy and put you in the right mindset.?

“Go to the bathroom and just in the stall, do a couple of power poses. One is just, hands on the hips, feet out like Superwoman holding that pose,” Hicks said. “It really makes you feel a different type of way. It changes your posture.”?

The common thing that experts said was to remember that an interview is a two-way street.

“The reality is that you're also interviewing them to make sure that they're a fit, you don't want to go somewhere that it's not,” Lonas said. “A lot of people don't see it that way. They're like, ‘Oh, no, they're interviewing for this role.’ Not really, the candidates have a choice.”?

Other Tips and Tricks For the Application Journey

Crisp communication is crucial when going through the application process. It can take you from a good candidate to a great one since résumés do not reflect personality.?

You can be a strong interviewee with a poor résumé or a less experienced candidate with a great résumé, Hrivnak said. She recalled when an applicant did not have an eye-catching résumé but found out that they were a quality candidate by the end of their conversation.?

“I'm sometimes taken aback by a résumé that doesn't look great,” Hrivnak said. “But talking to somebody who is able to really speak on what they accomplished and be able to have really good communication skills [is what stands out].”

Consistent communication also provides a boost. Sending a thank-you note or email helps managers decide about you. If three strong candidates are up for the same job and one sends an email thanking everyone for their time and the opportunity, the decision becomes a no-brainer. Send a thank-you note every time you meet with someone. Lonas had a candidate who separated themselves because they kept in touch and thanked everyone they came across during the process.

“He stood out because he was maintaining communication [during] the entire process, from the time that we invited him to apply,” Lonas said. “All the way until he was hired, he was checking statuses processes, he was attentive, he was responsive, it was just impressive.”

In addition, taking notes during the interview can help you retain information and shape your questions for later. Use your notes to write down names of panelists to address them. Jot down important information, questions that you do not want to forget to ask, and questions that trip you up to practice afterward. But do not become focused on your notes because it can be rude to the speaker.

Panel interviews can be less intimidating than they sound. Be prepared and use them to gain multiple perspectives on the role and company. Ask questions about company culture and how their roles would interact with yours.?

Once you rock this, maybe you will be on the panel interviewing someone else.

(Editing by Todd Dybas)