Preparing for a Daring Job Interview

It is a somewhat awkward moment. You are invited for a job interview. You are full of expectations and excitements about the possibility of demonstrating your knowledge and skill in order to clinch the job. But a rude shock awaits you at the point of the interview. You are led into a room with seats for about 5 or 6 candidates. Welcome to Group Interview.
A lot of job seekers are familiar with Panel Interviews- a candidate being interviewed by more than one person from the recruiting organisation. In this case, the panel’s attention is solely on the candidate. It is a more conventional interview setting which is completely different from a Group interview. A group interview is one that has several people being interviewed simultaneously for one position. The focus here is on more than one candidate per time. So, while Panel Interview seems like the reality show, Dragons’ Den, Group Interview can be likened to Mr. Trump’s The Apprentice .

Owing to the awkwardness of this method and the surprise written all over the faces of job seekers when faced with this method, it is appropriate to understand why recruiters opt for Group interview. Here are some of the reasons for Group interview:
• Saves Time and Cost : Consider a recruiter who needs to see 20-30 candidates and will spend about 30 minutes chatting with each. Such recruiter may opt for Group interview to save time and cost. Group interviewer allows such to meet as many candidates as possible within the shortest time.
• Opportunity to Demonstrate Ability to Work in a Team : Group interview allows a candidate to demonstrate how well they can be part of a team. It helps reveal how well a candidate relates with others in a team. In fact, recruiters use group interview when all or some of the job seekers in the group will be hired. A company recruiting a sales team may use such to see how job seekers can relate with one another.

• To Track Attention to Details: Recruiters may also use it to track how attentive and receptive candidates are. As a rule, you MUST listen attentively to what each candidate says if you find yourself in a group interview. This also includes picking out the names of all co-job seekers and panelists. This will prevent you from saying ‘for example, that candidate said……’. You MUST address each person in the room by name.
• Role Play : The recruiters may use this to make candidates assume certain roles during the interview. He wants to see someone like Team Lead or Supervisor. Remember how Mr. Trump asked a competitor to fire another competitor on The Apprentice?
• Elimination Tool : Sometimes, recruiters are in a fix occasioned by a stalemate. Imagine having candidates who have gone through various interview stages yet are tied on a score. What options are left to the recruiter? Group interview! This allows him invite those candidates and make final decision
Watch Out for the concluding part of the article next weekend.