How to pass an interview during which there is more than one person on one side of the negotiation process.
One of the forms of “non-traditional interviews” can be safely called group interviews - when during the interview more than one person appears on one side of the negotiation process. Depending on which side the group gathered from, there are 2 types of group interviews:
- group - when several applicants are present at the interview;
- panel - when the interview is conducted by several interviewers.
The reputation of group interviews is fundamentally negative - representatives of network marketing, who often use this particular form of interview, have pretty much ruined it. Therefore, one can understand why many applicants are put off by this form of interview, but everything is not so simple. Work.ua considers the features of this type of interview.
Group interview
Group interviews are justified if leadership and communication skills are important to a potential candidate - these are easiest to demonstrate during a group interview. Therefore, group interviews are often used to search for leadership positions and in the mass selection of specialties, where confidence, initiative and communication with a large audience are the most important skills: advertisers, PR specialists, sales managers, promoters, journalists, realtors, insurance and travel agents, call operators -centers.
Group interviews are meaningless for those specialists whose responsibilities do not include working with people, in stressful situations, and also do not need to show leadership qualities: accountants, engineers, IT specialists, analysts, editors - in a word, all those who quietly do their work in the office work.
Typical group interview scenario
Although somewhat generalized, the stages described below are found in almost every group interview.
Presentation of the company
Presenting the company and vacancy once instead of ten times saves interviewers time. It is very important for applicants to ask questions at this stage in order to understand whether such a vacancy is feasible or not. And even if you are very impressed by the internal culture of the company, you are going to work for a specific position, so first of all the work should be within your capabilities.
Questioning
In order not to lose all invited applicants, interviewers conduct a simple questionnaire. Indicate the information that you consider necessary.
Short self-presentation
This is a mandatory moment of all group interviews, which scares many: you need to briefly talk about yourself - unobtrusively, but confidently advertise yourself, your abilities and skills. You have to talk about yourself at any interview, but here the effect of public speaking comes into play. A pre-prepared “elevator presentation” will help you cope with this stage.
Group assignments
When conducting a group interview, candidates are put into a group and asked to cope with a real or fictitious problem that they may encounter while working in a particular company. The leader of the resulting group is either appointed by the interviewer, or the informal leader will emerge independently.
A group interview involves creative tasks in a group and the manifestation of initiative. Be prepared for logic tasks, tests of general knowledge or tricky ones, as well as a game form of communication. Despite the seeming frivolity of the action, the employer gets the most interesting information from observing applicants in the so-called small group.
Thus, during a group interview, the employer can evaluate the merits of each of the candidates: communication skills, creativity, leadership abilities, and the ability to defend their opinion with reason.
It's not all over with a group interview.
A group interview may be the next step after a standard interview, but rather it is the first step through which candidates are screened. And selected applicants often receive a one-on-one or panel interview. This can be explained by the fact that during a group interview some qualities of the applicant are revealed and others are hidden.
You need to understand that with this form of interview, candidates are selected by contrast - that is, everything depends on the group as a whole that was selected. As a result, the best from a particular group will be selected.
We walk around each other
When a company needs to recruit many people at once, from whom neither extensive work experience nor fundamental education is required, then a group interview is a completely effective tool. Although interviews for positions as a waiter, cashier, promoter, or store consultant are often conducted on an individual basis, if you apply for these positions, be prepared to meet your competitors for the job (or future colleagues).
If you were invited specifically to a group interview, this does not mean that the company is bad or careless about people. Perhaps, on the contrary, personnel management in it is set at a high level and recruiting specialists are engaged in mass selection.
HR Director Lyubov Lane spoke about her experience in a group interview as an employee of the HR department of a large trading company. The task was to recruit a staff of sales consultants for perfume and cosmetics stores. After the initial selection of resumes, approximately 30 people were invited for an interview. “In reality, 30-50 percent of those who signed up and confirmed their participation reach the interview, that is, 15-20 people. And on the company’s side, there were several of us, recruiters. The recruiting manager communicated with the audience, and the training and development specialist recorded the answers and reactions of those gathered. We asked each candidate to introduce themselves and briefly tell about themselves. And then something like sales training happened: the candidate had to talk about his favorite perfume brand or scent. Someone said: “I like this perfume, but I can’t describe it,” and another began to literally “sing” about his feelings. The whole procedure took 2-3 hours. And almost everyone we selected came to us for training and subsequently worked successfully. Moreover, often the applicant’s self-esteem even increases: “I am a star compared to others, because they chose me!” Of course, we took into account how the person looks, but even more important is how he behaves, how he behaves. In general, good self-presentation skills and having no problems expressing your thoughts help both in individual and group interviews.”
Group interviews are actively used by network and insurance companies, and sometimes their goal is not only the selection of personnel, but also the presentation of the company; this usually begins the event, which then either goes interactive, or interested applicants fill out questionnaires and sign contracts.
Panel interview
You come for an interview, and several people are already waiting for you in the office - this is a panel interview, one of the types of group interviews.
This common form of interview replaces the applicant with several stages of interviews with various company specialists, which saves his time. But the panel itself is not the most comfortable, because the situation itself is pressing - there are more than three people in the room and everyone is carefully scanning the applicant.
Moreover, they can all actively ask questions, or simply listen carefully and take notes. Each interviewer evaluates the candidate according to his own criteria. There are also possible obviously stressful scenarios when each of the interviewers will behave differently: someone may sit with a bored look and show no interest in what is happening, someone may persistently ask questions, someone may interrupt the “victim” of the group interviews, and their colleagues.
Your task during such a group interview is to remain calm, not to panic, not to be provoked and thus make a good impression.
Group job interview - its main types
Before considering a group interview, it should be noted that it implies two possible options for interviewing candidates for a vacant job. So , group testing differs by type as follows:
- Classic group interview. In this case, it is assumed that several candidates will be present at the interview at the same time - traditionally groups are formed from two to six or a maximum of ten people - a larger number simply will not allow realizing all the advantages of using the group interview method.
- Group interview. This is in many ways the opposite of the interview method, in which one applicant is interviewed by several employees of the enterprise at once. This technique is also extremely effective in many aspects of activity, but it also has certain advantages and disadvantages.
Thus, although a group interview primarily involves the participation of several people at once, with the exception of one interviewee and one interviewer, the specific methods of conducting it, as well as the pros and cons, can vary significantly depending on whether the interview is conducted with several candidates or several interviewers.
Regardless of the specific type of group interview, it usually represents much more stress for the applicant than an individual one, especially for first-time candidates who are rarely able to adequately perform within the framework of this method of selecting workers.
Tips for passing group and panel interviews
Don't leave right away
A self-respecting company will warn you in advance about the interview format. The only reason he won’t do this is to create the effect of surprise. You should not refuse or leave as soon as you find out that at the interview you will not be one on one with the interviewer, unless you see outright deception or a network company.
Take the initiative
Feel free to offer your solutions to problems in a group interview. Try to treat this as a training session, during which you need to show your communication skills and demonstrate self-presentation skills. Your goal is to stand out among other applicants. But this does not mean that they need to be drowned.
When criticizing, suggest
Criticism of competitors should only be constructive and reasoned, followed by a specific proposal. Praise, nods, approval - showing friendliness and politeness towards other candidates is encouraged.
Smile. Cheerfulness attracts
Even if you look weaker compared to your competitors, do not lose heart - it is unknown what criteria the selection will ultimately be based on.
Be yourself
The most important piece of advice in any aspect of employment is to be yourself. Probably, with this approach, the entire “Articles” section on the Work.ua website loses its relevance, but still remember it always when you don’t know what to do in a given situation. After all, it is very important to preserve individuality and not succumb to herd feelings. Speak only from yourself, be natural, don’t deceive, don’t play around, don’t flirt - as they say, “it’s better not to be hired than to be fired soon.”
Remember the interviewer's name and don't relax
Address the person conducting the interview by name. And don’t give in to the illusion that the recruiter isn’t looking at you at all. As a result, in a large group, the candidate does not feel close attention and begins to behave more informally - this is what recruiters rely on.
One technique for identifying false information in a panel interview involves asking the same question to the subject at certain intervals. A simple interview makes it practically impossible to identify invalid information stated by a candidate regarding his personal and professional achievements.
When answering questions, try to make eye contact with each HR manager, but focus on who asked the question.
Expect lengthy group interviews
Due to the number of participants, group interviews are quite long, but often at the end of the interview you can find out the verdict after a short discussion. If you fail, view it not as a defeat, but as an opportunity to objectively evaluate your leadership qualities and compare yourself with your competitors. Analyze their strengths and weaknesses, note particularly successful performances and take all this into account. It will be useful in the future!
Work.ua advises to show your individuality during interviews, to come not just to an interesting company, but also to an interesting position - in short, a successful and quick job search!
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There are two types of group interviews: 1. One interviewer communicates with a group of candidates; 2. Several company employees conduct an interview with one applicant (this is the so-called panel interview).
The fact that the interview to which the applicant is invited is a group interview may or may not be warned in advance (at best). In this case, you come to the interview and are surprised (or feared) to find that you are in a group interview . If it so happens that you came for an interview and found yourself in a group of 5-15, or even more competitors, do not rush to leave, refusing the desired position. This form of interview frightens many applicants because it raises doubts about the recruiter’s adequate assessment of each participant. But it should be noted that, according to experts, a group interview in essence is not very different from a traditional one. By the way, applicants are asked the same questions.
You should not think that conducting a group interview is disrespectful to the candidate's personality. There are just reasons for this.
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Reasons for group interview:
— Often used to fill a vacancy that is not high enough to warrant individual meetings.
— Used in a situation where the candidate must have free communication skills. A group interview may include salespeople, couriers, customer service managers, customer support center specialists, and, in the banking industry, debt collection specialists and loan consultants working in retail outlets. Group interviews are also used in cases of hiring for mass vacancies that do not require solid professional training from applicants.
- To save time. For example, if you need to accept about 50 applicants per day and talk to each one individually.
A group interview provides an excellent opportunity to see how a candidate behaves in a team, whether he can manage himself, and evaluate his behavior in stressful situations. Many people begin to get nervous, show aggression or irritation, and in positions that involve communicating with people, this is unacceptable.
During a group interview, it is almost impossible to approach each candidate individually. But usually this is not the main task. More often they simply want to weed out applicants who are absolutely not suitable for a given position.
Group interviews are always conducted according to a script. First, the interviewer talks about the company, answers candidates’ questions, asks what applicants know about the organization and why they want to work for it. After this, he talks about the vacancy for which they are applying and about the psychological factors of the job. The recruiter can then ask each applicant to briefly explain why they believe they should be hired for the open position.
During a group interview, candidates are usually divided into several teams and asked to complete certain tasks. The tasks themselves are not at all difficult - it’s just training, during which the interviewer observes applicants, assesses their level of sociability and activity, ability to work in a team, stress resistance and ability to act in an unusual environment.
After a group interview , as a rule, at least a quarter of applicants are eliminated. If you rely more on intelligence rather than communication, and it is difficult for you to get along with people, most likely you will not be lucky in this struggle. The recruiter's bias explains the fact that he simply did not have the opportunity to fully see your merits.
If you work well alone, but not very successfully in a team, if you have problems communicating with people, then it is better for you to refuse to attend group interviews .
Disadvantages of a group interview:
— This interview is quite long (can last 2.5-2 hours). — Stressful situations are possible (the candidate’s assessment is unlikely to be objective, because an anxious person behaves differently than usual). — The interviewer does not have the opportunity to see those character traits in the candidate that would necessarily appear during an individual conversation. On the one hand, it is immediately clear who is actively fighting for a vacancy and who is passive. But the motives of these applicants are unknown. Perhaps the passive candidate is simply more modest, and the active one is a hysterical person? As a result, a silent candidate will not be hired because he is “no good.” And with the “active” one, only during the probationary period will it become clear that there is a complete lack of professionalism and only “naked” ambition...
Advantages of a group interview:
— Lack of close attention from the recruiter. But there is a catch here. Among a large number of people, there is an illusion that the interviewer is not looking at you at all. The result is lack of composure and relaxation. Remember - the recruiter sees everything! — There is an opportunity to demonstrate teamwork abilities. — Gaining valuable interview experience.
Recommendations for passing a group interview with several applicants:
— Be polite and correct towards other candidates. — Show initiative, offer your own solutions to problems. - No matter how scary it is, be yourself. Show off your personality. If you are asked to tell about yourself, do not copy the behavior of the previous applicant. Make it your own. — Even if it seems to you that you look weaker compared to your competitors, do not lose heart - it is unknown what criteria the selection will ultimately be based on.
Unlike the previous option, company employees have a chance to study the applicant objectively and from all sides, to fully evaluate both his personal and professional qualities. In addition, in this case, time is saved for both the applicant and the employer.
A group interview is carried out if an open position requires highly specialized knowledge that one HR employee cannot assess. Another reason for conducting a group interview may be doubts about the competence of the personnel officer himself, who, for example, recently took up this position.
In order to ensure that the candidate has the necessary professional skills and knowledge, specialists from the department in which the applicant will work are invited. These specialists ask questions related to the narrow area for which they are responsible, while simultaneously assessing the candidate according to several criteria at once. In addition to the candidate’s professional qualities, his personal qualities are also assessed, and as a result, a holistic portrait of him is obtained, as a result of which the risk of a situation arising when the applicant “does not fit into” the new team is reduced.
In reputable companies, as a rule, the candidate is warned in advance about conducting a panel interview so that he can at least tune in to what awaits him. Applicants forced to conduct a conversation with several interviewers at once behave differently: some try not to bother themselves with fears and answer questions calmly; others (and these are the majority) feel like a defendant under cross-examination, and because of this, of course, they are nervous.
It is often quite difficult to establish full contact with all interviewers at the same time. It is not easy for a job seeker to understand the completely different reactions of company employees to their answers. Interviewers differ not only in their manner of speaking, mood and temperament. They often distribute in advance the roles that they will perform during a group interview: one is “good”, the second is “evil”, the third checks the candidate’s reaction speed, only occasionally firing short questions, etc. Agree, it’s easy to lose control here in your own words and blurt out too much.
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A group interview makes it possible to more accurately assess the professional and personal qualities of a candidate. There is also no threat of subjective factors influencing decision making. This type of interview is usually used at the final stage, when you need to choose the “best of the best”.
A less stressful situation for the applicant is when the conversation is led by one of the specialists, and the rest join the conversation as needed. It is also more comfortable for the candidate when the panel interview is divided into a number of individual conversations and the candidate goes through each of them in turn.
Group interviews are quite often used in companies. The fact is that when several interviewers are present at an interview, several problems are solved at once: - It is possible to evaluate the applicant from several sides at once, the immediate supervisor - from the professional (from the point of view of the candidate’s competence in this business), the HR manager - from the psychological ( from the point of view of integrating a new employee into the team), etc.. - There is an excellent test of the candidate’s resistance to stress (the state of stress increases in direct proportion to the number of interviewers).
During a group interview, follow these rules:
- Remember (or write down) the name of each interviewer, no matter how difficult it is. After all, interviewers are different people with their own opinions. Therefore, it is necessary to contact everyone personally and looking them in the eye. Even if it seems to you that one of the interviewers is hostile towards you, do not worry or be upset. Perhaps this is just his role. And the final decision is made based on the general opinion. Show respect for each interview participant.
- Be sure to answer every interviewer.
— Try to determine who is in charge and who will make the decisions. Contact this person often. By the way, the one who asks the most questions is not necessarily the main one.
- Strictly adhere to one line of behavior. Take your time to answer, think through your answers carefully.
— If you did not hear or understand the question, do not hesitate to clarify the information. Use phrases: “I understand correctly that...”
Whatever type of interview the employer chooses, remember: the main thing is a positive attitude and self-confidence! Good luck!
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Aleksey Ivanoff 10/13/2015, 00:20
Great article, something you need when searching for the ideal candidate
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Yuri Zhikharev 10.13.2015, 23:17
How's that? Well, then someday try to apply this method when searching for a top manager, for example, a commercial director or a marketing director. The result will be stunning: everyone who knows how to do the job will get up and leave, and only the “ideal” candidates for chatter will remain. However, there is nothing wrong with this, since, in fact, self-respecting professionals will leave even before the performance begins, as soon as they discover where they have ended up. Even in conditions of endless economic crisis and terrible unemployment.
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Darina Karban 10.22.2019, 15:21
Agree.
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Andrey Bezushchenko 03.25.2020, 20:43
Yuri 100%
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Alexander Vankevich 10/13/2015, 09:12
Really useful article. Once in my life I had such an interview at the K-Trade company (which has already sunk into oblivion). I was invited to an interview, their HR manager personally called the mobile phone and specified a time that was convenient for me (or rather, a date). I came, and there were about 30 people there... And on other dates that were offered to me, about the same number of people also came (I found out this later)! I was outraged! In reality, they selected two sales managers from about a hundred people who came to these group interviews! And precisely because I was depressed by this situation, I was not ready for this format - I was not able to express myself during the interview... This approach seemed insulting to me, because it turns out that the company does not respect the applicant if it does not warn him about in this format! If you invited a crowd of people with me, then you personally don’t care about me, but I’m also a person! But it turns out that they needed to identify leadership qualities...
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Alexander Vankevich 10/13/2015, 09:13
In short, this article is worthy of publication in magazines and newspapers! Respect!
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Olga Khrapenko 10/13/2015, 20:41
I don’t like this form of interview at all; we can’t conduct it adequately. If they want to test leadership qualities, then they need to simulate a situation, a work task so that applicants can solve it. in fact, it turns out that a person tells where, when and for what salary he worked, what education he had - in short, a standard interview. Why, you ask, should I talk about this in the presence of strangers, especially competitors? Clear disrespect for applicants
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Sergey Yurievich 10.13.2015, 18:59
I was at such an interview... Alas, it turned out to be complete “fashionable nonsense” Firstly, the vacancy was about an IT topic, Secondly, the complete lack of professionalism of the employers appeared instantly. It was fun, funny and instructive: what not to do.
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Natalia, Vasilkivkhliboprodukt, TOV 03.13.2019, 11:21
I conducted a group interview once. I myself didn’t really like the format of this interview. I saw that it was unpleasant for applicants.
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