Group Interview Do’s & Don’ts

Group Interviewing has been a technique used by employers for many years now. Understanding why a prospective employer may use group interviewing will help you in preparing and performing well during the actual interview. Group interviewing involves bringing you, along with several other candidates, who are being considered for the same or similar position, in for an interview. All candidates in the group are interviewed simultaneously. The idea from the employers’ perspective is to see how well you respond and react to the other candidates. Often the employer can easily identify who are the team players and who is more likely to “roll others the bus.” Group interviewing can also be an effective strategy to identify those candidates that perform better under pressure. Employers will likely utilize group interviewing to achieve one or more of the following objectives:

• Save Money. It’s a very efficient way to utilize staff time.
• Job-mimicking: Seeing how candidates perform in “almost live work environments” is very valuable! Simulated group activities are often used in group interviewing and can be revealing to say the least.
• Candidate comparison: Having multiple staff involved, as opposed to traditional one-on-one interviewing, allows for things to be seen from different angles. Everyone is determining “best fit.”

So, here are a few do’s and don’ts when preparing for and participating in group interviewing:

• Do differentiate yourself with your responses
• Do remember your manners under pressure, be polite
• Do demonstrate leadership skills
• Don’t be too competitive
• Don’t get “sucked in” to other candidates’ power plays.
• Don’t be overly anxious

Group interviewing can be a very fun but tiring experience. Be sure and get plenty of rest leading up to any job interview, but especially a group interview. For more information about job interviewing, what our video: Selling Yourself in an Interview.