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Panel interviews are feared by many because having a team of executives shoot questions at you in every direction feels unnerving. However, after being interviewed by a panel of seven executives, and after being a panel member myself, on several other interviews, I have some tips for approaching this beast of the hiring process.
First, prepare for this interview as you would any other. Find out who is interviewing you, including names and titles if possible. Do your research on each one, where they went to school, where they worked before this, where they’re from, etc. If you can find out what they look like, then once you meet them at the interview, it won’t be hard for you to remember who is who. Remember, the more you know about each interviewer, the less unknowns that exist on the day of the interview. You can be just as in control of charming each person on the panel, as you would on a one person interview. Bring resume copies for every person on the panel, and remember to send all of them thank you notes. If they’re on your panel, they’re influencing the hiring decision. Spend the time to get every person’s buy-in.
Once you know who is interviewing you, do some research on their departments and find out why it’s relevant for each of them to be interviewing you. Perhaps one of them has the job for which you’re going in a related department, or perhaps one of them oversees a cross-divisional team that routinely interacts with the role for which you’re interviewing. With some idea about why each person was selected to be involved in the hiring process, you can anticipate themes that they’ll be addressing in their questions. Do as much mapping between the job you want and each person’s role. This way their questions won’t feel so shocking, keeping you calm during showtime.
Finally, even if you have a ton of people on your panel, this doesn’t necessarily make for a more difficult interview. Although you’re trying to impress many people, not just one or two, I can tell you from experience that the more people you have in your interview, the more predictable their questions will be. Think about it—if there are five people in your interview, each one will only have time for 1-3 questions. And because they only have a few questions, they’ll stick to the key ones that they need to know. This means fewer random questions that seem unrelated to the job description. With a one-on-one interview, there is much more time for an interviewer to go on tangents or get distracted with details. A panel interview tends to keep everyone in their lane and in their role, which is ultimately better for you.
So if you’re invited for a panel interview, remember that you don’t need to sweat it any more than you would a one-on-one interview. You will need a little more time for preparation and follow up, but a panel interview does not need to call up your fears. You’ve got this. You’re in control. Go get ‘em!
Have tips on how to prepare for panel interviews? Share them in the comments below.