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February 21, 2024

Tips to Ace Your Group Interview

The fact that you’re facing not one but several interviewers can make you nervous. The objective of a group interview is the same as that of one-on-one interviews—to assess whether you’re the right candidate for a role. However, there are some differences in how you would prepare for and behave in a group interview. Keep the following tips in mind to ace your group interview and land that job.

1. Know who the panelists are

When you get the list of the people who will be interviewing you, make a note of their names and designations, and do some research about their career paths within the company. When the interview starts, make an effort to associate names with faces so you know who you’re addressing when someone asks you a question.

2. Address the group

Make sure you aren’t just speaking to one interviewer. It’s important to build rapport with all members of the group, individually as well as together. While answering a question, try to add perspectives that are relevant to other panelists as well based on their role, area of expertise, and interests. Divide your attention equally to show that you’re interested in their opinions and can work well with a team.

3. Make eye contact with everyone on the panel

How you make eye contact can influence the hiring decision in a group interview. Ideally, you want to look everyone in the eye periodically. When answering questions, start by looking directly at the individual who asked the question and then make eye contact with the other panelists as you elaborate on your response or share additional information. This ensures everyone feels engaged and allows you to read the room. If you observe a panelist looking distracted or bored, try to involve them in the conversation by providing a perspective or example that’s relevant to their role.

4. Aim to impress everyone

Be sure to answer every question thoughtfully and thoroughly, regardless of who’s asking it. Don’t focus on one person just because of their level of interest or job title. Your objective should be to impress every single panelist because you don’t know who the decision-maker is. In fact, in many group interviews, the hiring decision is made by collective consensus so you need everybody on your side.

5. Keep it conversational

Group interviews can often turn into a rapid fire of questions. To avoid that, think carefully before you respond and make sure your answers don’t seem rehearsed. If one of the interviewers cuts you off with another question, assess whether you had anything valuable left to say in response to the previous question, and if you did, tell them you have a final point to make before addressing their question. Listen to what the interviewers are saying, and use their inputs in the conversation.

6. Take notes

You’ll often get more information thrown at you in a group interview than in a one-to-one setting, so make sure you jot it all down. Your notes will come in handy during the next round of interviews or while following up. An interview is as much a chance for you to learn about the company and the team as it is for the employer to learn about you. The information you gather during your group interview can also help you decide whether this organization is right for you.

7. Be prepared to elaborate on your responses

Often in a group interview, the interviewers will ask follow-up questions to dig deeper into your answers or you may be asked the same question in different forms. Avoid repeating information you’ve already shared and have several examples ready to justify your responses. Don’t get impatient or say that you’ve already addressed the question. It’s possible that you may not have fully answered the question the first time or the interviewer may be giving you a chance to address a different facet of the question. 

It’s also important to be adaptable and handle unpredictable situations well. For instance, a panel member may interject while you’re speaking and offer an opposing view to gauge your reaction. In such a situation, remember to listen, understand, and explain the reasoning behind your initial response.

8. Have questions ready for the interviewers

At the end of most interviews, you’ll be asked if you have any questions for the group. Have a list of questions ready and have something in mind for each interviewer. Avoid directing all your questions to one person and try to keep everyone engaged. Asking questions is a great way to show that you’re interested in the team and company and are eager to join.

9. How to follow up after a group interview

Your interview is done and you’re eager to find out if you’ve been selected for the job or the next round of interviews. In most cases, interviewers meet with multiple candidates before hiring someone for the role, and you want to make sure you remain top-of-mind until (and even after) they’ve made a decision.

As a first step, send a personalized thank you email to all the interviewers who were part of the group within 24 hours of your interview. This lets them know you appreciate the time they took to speak with you and reinforces your conversation in their minds. Ideally, you should personalize your email to each interviewer by including one or two key takeaways from your conversation, such as something they mentioned about an upcoming project or the team culture, and reiterating how excited you are about working for the company.

With group interviews, it’s often difficult to assess who the decision-maker is. To make things easier, at the end of your group interview, ask who you should follow up with and when. Your follow-up email should mention the role you interviewed for and when thank the individual for meeting with you, and politely ask when you can expect a decision. Much like your thank you note, your follow-up email should be personalized so the interviewer can recall who you are and their impression of you.

Remember, the recruitment process can take time, so don’t be disappointed if you don’t hear back immediately after you follow up. It’s acceptable to follow up again within a week or so of your last email. But if you don’t receive a response after three follow-up emails, it’s probably best to invest your time and energy in interviews with other organizations.

Wrap Up

If you need any assistance in preparing your resume or you need more specific interview guidelines that best suit your personal requirements to have a breakthrough in the Canadian job market reach out to Gettrainedgethired.com to book a free 30-Minute career counseling meeting. At Gettrainedgethired.com we provide you with the necessary training to learn practical skills to become an accountant. Our training is based on practical real-life cases.  After the training, we work on your resume and try to place you in accounting firms through our network. You will also get access to like-minded individuals who are looking for jobs through our WhatsApp group. Please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. Or call us at 647-276-7150.

Disclaimer: The information provided on this page is intended to provide general information. The information does not consider your situation and is not intended to be used without consultation from professionals. Salman Randhawa and Gettrainedgethired.com will not be held liable for any problems that arise from the usage of the information provided on this page.

Author

Salman Rundhawa

Salman has a strong desire to help others succeed and believe in passing on the knowledge. He likes to mentor others and wish to play part in other people success.
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