How to Succeed in a Panel Interview: 5 Pro Tips in 2024

As if interviews weren’t so traumatizing as is that the concept of a panel interview is also rising and gaining much appreciation from employers all around the world. While some might be new to this concept, it is already known to be one of the most intimidating interview setups to exist.

In a panel interview, you have to face a panel of interviewers who will ask you questions, judge you, and evaluate your skills. While it is very beneficial for employers to judge and deal with candidates, it can be quite daunting for the interviewee to bear with. 

Some firms also take panel interviews by keeping a panel of judges in front of a panel of candidates to assess them and eliminate them easily. However difficult it might sound to you right now, there are many ways through which you can ease your way out of such interviews, even if they’re held online. So here are some panel interview tips to easily answer and ace any panel interview questions.

5 Pro Tips to Crack Panel Interview

Here are some panel interview tips to easily answer and ace any panel interview questions:

Maintain Eye Contact With Everyone

One of the biggest things to focus on during a panel interview is your eye contact. Unlike any other interview, you don’t have one person to talk to. There are going to be many people, all their eyes on you. Therefore, it becomes important for you to maintain eye contact with every one of them. Try to divide the time so that you don’t end up ignoring an interviewer. 

Additionally, when one person asks a question in the interview panel, you can try to look at him the most while giving some subtle glances to other people as well as explain your answer further.

In addition to this, it is equally important to have good body language and posture throughout the panel interview. Don’t forget that you’re under the constant scrutiny of about 4 people so you should ensure that you don’t give off body language that shows that you’re under-confident or scared or unsure. They will take a minute to notice that and it will subsequently hurt your chances of getting hired.

Be Well Prepared

This is one of those panel interview tips that goes without saying. It is important to prepare well before an interview. But when it comes to a panel interview, it is important to be more than just prepared. Try to make a list of all the probable panel interview questions. Then, try to add some more follow-up questions to each question you look at. With this, you’ll be able to handle even a rapid-fire of questions fired by the examiner.

During a panel interview, you will be faced with the mindset of about 4 people. Therefore, you have to prepare beforehand and at least be ready for those questions which can be judged before time and are one of the most general panel interview questions. 

If you think you will be able to make things up on the spot, either you’re too overconfident or are underestimating the situation you’ll be in. Unless you’ve been in such an environment previously, it will be difficult to be ready to answer everything on the spot without panicking much.

Try to Make It More Conversational

It is difficult and there is no guarantee that you to get the job even if you do it, but making a panel interview more of a conversation than an interrogation session can be quite helpful. Especially for you. This is because if the interview is becoming more conversational, you’ll be easily able to calm down and therefore will be able to answer better.

On the other hand, with more of an interrogation going on for 30 minutes, you’ll eventually drain out or feel out of proper responses. If necessary, you can also ask your questions. If you want to know something more about the job or something else relevant that’s been bothering you, ask for permission to do the same and then ask the question. It will help you feel more in control of the situation.

Try to Know Who You’re Meeting With

Another great panel interview tip is to know who you’re going to meet during the panel interview. Generally, the profile and other information about the examiners are provided in the invite of the panel interview that you get. But if that is not the case, you can also try to find it out yourself. You just have to call the company reception and enquire about the same. They will generally hand you over the details of the people you’re going to tackle the next day.

How would it help you, you ask? It will help you because, with the information presented to you beforehand, you can easily go to their work profiles and check them out to find the position they work at, amidst other such things. This can give you an edge over the others and will thereby make you more prepared to face them during the interview.

Bring Enough Resumes

Before you face any panel interview questions, you’ll have to hand out your resumes. Therefore, it is important to print as many resumes as required or mentioned by the interviewing party. In this manner, each person will have his resume to peek into and will also give off a considerably organized vibe of yours. To be as sure as ever, you can also bring in about 2 or 3 more resumes as the people in the interviewing panel.

Conclusion

Panel interviews can surely be daunting, but it save a lot of time for employers by allowing them to put all the members of the hierarchy at once and make decisions quickly rather than sequentially lay work down for them to complete. Also, it can allow them to see how you work under pressure. So ensure that you’re well prepared for the panel interview with all the panel interview tips that you’ll ever need to smoothen your process and get you the job you’re looking for.

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