Panel, Group and Committee Interviews

Interviewing takes many forms. I won’t ever forget the first time I walked into an office, scared enough about talking with one manager – and much to my surprise, saw four people armed with interview questions for me.

Why would an employer inflict such punishment on someone eager to work for them? Perhaps to enable them to make a better hiring decision, based on the opinions of several interviewers rather than just one.

Panel interviews are common with nonprofit organizations as well as in academia.  Panels may be made up of four to six people. The panel may include someone from human resources, department managers and even potential co-workers. Panel interviews may also be called group or committee interviews.   

Some tips for a panel interview include:

Interact with each person on the panel. But, direct your answer for each question to the person who asked it, maintaining eye contact with that person.

If you can, try to remember the name of each interviewer. Shake hands with each person as you leave the interview, thanking them and calling them by name.

Immediately after the interview, send an individual thank you note to each interviewer. If possible try to address some point each person made in your thank you note to him/her. If you are not able to get a business card for each interviewer, call the person who set up your interview and ask for that information.

Remember – Career Services offers mock interviews as one of its services. We’ll be happy to simulate a panel interview and send you off with more confidence for the real thing.