Facing an interview panel

A job interview can be extremely stressful, especially during the initial phases of your career. The stress level, while fairly high, remains within manageable limits if there is a single interviewer in-charge of the interaction. But imagine facing a panel of five to six people at your first job interview itself? Sounds scary, doesn’t it?

Seasoned career veterans with multiple jobs and interviews under their belt describe this situation as the equivalent of going to meet a prospective bride’s parents for the very first time and walking straight into a major family function with relatives from all over in attendance. The slightest miscalculation, one wrong gesture or comment and you’re rejected at once. Collective judgement is passed against you before the process even gets off to a proper start.

According to wikiHow, interviewing with a group or a panel of interviewers can be difficult, because there are multiple people asking questions and evaluating you.

Here are a few tips on how to ace a group or panel job interview.

Know the facts about the company
Learn what you can about the company and the position for which you're interviewing. This will give you a good idea about who will be on the panel and will help you field questions from panel members with confidence. Your panel will likely include members of the company's human resources department as well as members of the department where you would be working, so understanding the structure of the company will make you more knowledgeable about your interviewers.

Provide resumes for everyone
Bring enough copies of your resume to provide one for each member of the interview panel. This will give each person interviewing you the opportunity to review your credentials. It will also help you appear prepared and organised.

Make proper eye contact
It's important to make the right eye contact at the right time during your panel interview. When answering questions from one panel member, look at that one member so it's clear that you're focusing on him. If you're elaborating on a point, making a longer statement or addressing a question from the group as a whole, make eye contact with each member of the panel to engage and include each of them.

Learn the names of your interviewers
Take note of each panel member's name when you meet them so you can address them personally during the group interview. Using their names will help you develop a rapport with each of them. This will also help you stay focused on members during the interview and let your interviewers know that you pay attention to detail.

Consider panel members when answering questions
Include specific examples pertaining to your personal experiences and the jobs of the panel members when you answer their questions. This will show the value of your skills and experience
to the perspective of each individual on the interview panel.

Stay calm
It's easy to get flustered when a member of an interview panel asks you a difficult question, but the most important thing to remember is that they want to hear what you have to say. Take a deep breath, focus on that single panel member, and answer the question as completely as you can. Staying calm and focusing on that specific question will prevent you from getting overwhelmed by the number of interviewers and it will demonstrate that you know how to function under pressure.

Thank each panel member
Shake hands with each interview panel member and thank them at the end of the interview. Send thank-you notes to each member to convey your appreciation for the interview. This will keep your interview and resume in each of their minds.