If the thought of interviewing with a full panel of diverse company team members, managers, and executives asking you questions from every angle seems terrifying, we’ve got your back! Here’s a guide on how to embrace and ace your next panel interview.
Why You Should Embrace the Panel Interview
Time Saved: Panel interviews save time and streamline the hiring process. Instead of multiple one-on-one sessions on different dates, you can impress various team members, managers, and executives in one go. This means one outfit, one trip to their location, maybe one chuck of time taken off from a current job, round of preparation, and less waiting between interview rounds. Tight interview and hiring deadlines become more manageable for the company and you as a candidate as panel interviews allow everyone to coordinate their schedules efficiently.
Company Culture: A panel interview provides a comprehensive view of the company’s organizational structure and culture. It allows you to witness how collaboration and teamwork operate within the organization.
Less Bias: With multiple perspectives, panel interviews reduce personal bias. Different panel members may see diverse opportunities in a candidate’s skills and experience and advocate for you to other members, whereas you may not have made it past an interviewer’s own judgement in an individual interview. This diversity in evaluation ensures a fair and thorough assessment.
Company Efficiency: Panel interviews contribute to company efficiency by facilitating immediate decision-making, feedback, and discussions. Key decision-makers form their own impressions, eliminating the need for secondhand information. After the interview, the panel can promptly discuss your candidacy and move forward in the hiring process.
How to Ace the Panel Interview
Research: Thoroughly research the company and the individuals on the panel. Use LinkedIn profiles and the company website to gather insights. Note pieces of common ground you may use to connect with each interviewer. Knowing your audience enhances your ability to engage and leave a lasting impression.
Prepare: Refer to our previous blogs linked here on Interview Preparation, Open-Ended Questions, and Powerful Questions for Tech Talent. Bring printed copies of your resume for each panel member, demonstrating your professionalism and preparedness.
Engage: During the panel interview, engage with each member individually. Use your previous research to speak about their work, experiences, commonalities, or how you envision contributing to the team. Maintain eye contact, address panelists by name when responding, and adapt to different interviewing styles keeping in mind that each panel member may be seeking a different quality in you as a candidate, such as technical acumen, culture fit, etc.
Thank the Panel: After the interview, express gratitude by sending a personalized thank-you note to each panel member. Utilize LinkedIn, the company website, or your contact in the hiring process to obtain individual emails. If you’re working with a recruiter, the recruiter will be sure to get your thank-you note directly to each interviewer.
Though it may require a lot of preparation up-front in order to feel comfortable in a panel interview, you should embrace the panel interview as an opportunity to leave a lasting impression at multiple levels of an organization and showcase your abilities from every angle. With thorough preparation, engagement, and appreciation, you’ll stand out in the competitive job market.
