What Is A Group Interview: Tips & How To Stand Out

It’s quite crowded in here, isn’t it? You are waiting for a job interview, but so are others. You asked them what time their meeting was, and it was the same as yours. Sweat starts to run down your spine. Is it possible that you will be interviewed together? Is a group interview a thing? Oh, certainly it is. Continue reading to learn how to stand out in a group interview and land the job you desire.

What Is a Group Interview?

A group interview is a sort of job interview in which several applicants are interviewed simultaneously. The interviewer usually asks each candidate individual questions, as well as group questions and activities that need the candidates to work together.

While this style of interview may appear to be uncomfortable, it is actually quite effective for some occupations. The interviewer gains valuable information into the candidate’s soft skills, such as teamwork, problem-solving, and effective communication. So, group interviews are useful for professions that require a high level of interpersonal skills, such as hosting large events, serving at a New Year’s Eve dinner party, and working in a hotel during the summer.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Survey, professions requiring human connection will remain vital in the foreseeable future—and what better method to monitor human interaction during a job interview than with a few candidates?

How Do Group Interviews Usually Work?

A group interview includes more than one candidate. It may also include multiple interviewers (known as a panel interview) who offer questions or assist with role-playing exercises.

Cabin staff recruitment days are an excellent example of a group interview. Job applicants are divided into groups and assigned activities that require collaboration, problem solving, decision making, and working under pressure. During the exercises, interviewers may see which applicants take the initiative and solve difficulties, as well as how well they negotiate with others, navigate disagreements, and maintain a good attitude.

The advantages of group interviews include:

• Saving time: group interviews facilitate meeting many candidates simultaneously, especially when the business needs to hire more employees.
• Natural communication: during a group interview, candidates may discuss ideas or solve problems as a group.
• Real-life setting: this type of interview often involves role-playing activities that show how candidates perform under pressure.

You may believe that a group interview is more difficult than a traditional 1-on-1 job interview. However, it is not always true. It’s simply a new style of meeting. With the appropriate counsel, you can demonstrate your unique qualities and win the interview.

Is a Group Interview a Good Thing?

• First and foremost, being invited to a job interview is a positive thing.
• Second, preparing yourself for it will undoubtedly be beneficial.
• It may appear scary to sit among other job hopefuls; nevertheless, over 90% of Americans experience anxiety before job interviews, so this is quite normal.

A group interview is a great opportunity to:

• Show off your people skills, such as communication, active listening, and empathy.
• Prove you’re great at working with others during collaborative tasks.
• Meet other candidates for the same position and see how they compare with you.
• Impress the interviewers by standing out from other applicants.

As you can see, a group job interview gives you a better chance of demonstrating your skills than a traditional interview. Continue reading this post to understand all of the tips and strategies for acing group interviews.

Group Interview Questions

What better way to prepare for a group interview than to see what questions you might encounter? While they may differ based on the position you seek, many are quite predictable. So here they are:

• Why Do You Think You’re the Best Candidate for This Position?

It’s a typical interview question that can take several forms, such as “Why should we hire you?” When responding to this question, emphasize your most relevant qualifications and explain how the company will benefit from your efforts.

• Your answer can look like this:

“Your job advertisement mentioned experience in project management and graphic design. In my current position, I’ve led over ten cross-functional projects that involved close cooperation with UI designers. I used to work as a freelance graphic designer before moving into project management. And I believe this combination of experience and skills will help me create project plans and collaborate with creative teams at your company.”

• How Would You Describe Yourself ?

It’s difficult to express something about yourself on the moment, therefore prepare an answer to this question in advance. You want to seem professional and highlight the skills that make you a strong candidate for the job. You can begin by showcasing a specific talent that is relevant to the position you are applying for.

• Here’s a sample answer:

“I’m an excellent communicator. I provide phone support for over 30 customers daily. I strive to get to the root of their problems and give them the help they need. I believe that most customer complaints are due to poor communication between agents and clients, so I made it my goal to decrease the number of escalations by providing the clients with relevant and up-to-date information. That helped me boost the customer satisfaction rate by 16% within a quarter.”

• How Would Your Colleagues Describe You?

However, there is a risk you will receive something like “great person to grab a beer with” rather than something productive. To answer this question during the group interview, select a few job-relevant attributes and share instances of how you use them at work.

• Your answer could look something like this:

“My colleagues would describe me as an empathetic and thoughtful person. Last month, one of my coworkers struggled with completing a complex and challenging task, so I offered to take on his everyday duties so he’d have more time to focus on the project and finish it within the deadline. He really appreciated my help and said he was glad he could depend on me.”

• What Skills Do You Consider Essential for This Position?

Since you’ve already applied for this employment, you should know what talents the employer considers vital. To answer this question, you should not only recall the attributes they identified as vital, but also provide a brief explanation of why. You may also include a talent that closely matches the requirements.

• A sample response is as follows:

“I believe that a great accountant is not only knowledgeable about accounting principles and finance but also has great attention to detail, analytical skills, and a problem-solving attitude. An accountant’s job is more than just entering numbers on the right side of the balance sheet—it also consists of spotting fiscal errors, finding irregularities, and suggesting solutions to stakeholders.”

• What Interests You in This Position?

Money is the obvious solution. However, do not discuss anything during the interview. Instead, express your passion for the job by praising the company’s accomplishments, reviewing its history, or discussing how its ambitions connect with your ideals.

• Here’s an example response to this question:

“One of the factors that make this position attractive is simply working for your company. I’ve followed your advertising projects over the years, and it impressed me how your creative team can seamlessly blend cultural archetypes with unexpected elements. I believe that my set of skills and graphic design experience can be a good fit for this role.”

• What Do You Know About Our Company?

This question is similar to a test designed to determine whether you did your study before applying for the job. Prepare for the meeting by researching the company’s history, learning about its future plans, and selecting key information to highlight.

• Your answer can sound like this:

This company started as a small startup and grew into a listed company within just four years. I’m impressed that despite this massive growth, the business has preserved its genuine character, flat hierarchical structure, and work environment that facilitates employees’ growth. I’ve read the stellar reviews of your latest product, and I can’t wait to see what other developments your future will bring.”

• Do You Enjoy Working in a Team?

Modern organizations sometimes need people to operate in groups. Most occupations require good collaboration skills, so even if you are an individualist, strive to respond in a way that does not make you appear lonely.

• Here’s an example response to this question:

“Working in a team often inspires me. It provides an opportunity to listen to different opinions and perspectives to solve the issue at hand. It’s also a chance to exchange ideas and learn something from another person.”

• Can You Describe Your Work History?

This seems like an obvious question. It’s all in your résumé, correct? However, the recruiter does not want you to recite your job application; they want to hear something new. When describing your career, include just the details, accomplishments, and facts that are relevant to the position you are applying for.

• Check out this sample answer:

“I started as a virtual assistant four years ago, working for small firms freelance. That allowed me to gain expertise working with customers, managing administrative tasks, and planning overseas trips. I started working as a full-time executive assistant at Peony Cosmetics two years ago, where I was in charge of the CEO’s schedule, business travel coordination, and routine correspondence. My best accomplishment was establishing online board meetings, which reduced executives’ travel time by 57%.”

• Can You Describe a Situation Where You Dealt With a Difficult Customer?

Answer this situational question using the STAR technique. Provide an example from your own experience and explain how you succeeded in this situation.

• Here is an example of how you could respond to this question:

“As a customer service agent at Flowerpot Inc., I deal with a number of challenging consumers each month. One I recall had a severe issue regarding the quality of one of the delivered products. The client requested that their case be escalated to the management immediately, citing a previous poor encounter with another agent. However, I was able to calm the customer down by using a compassionate tone and suggesting exchanging the product with a new one. The client accepted my idea and congratulated me for resolving the issue.”

• What Are Your Career Goals?

The response to this question must be relevant to both the job and the firm to which you are applying. Of course, don’t be too arrogant—saying, “I want to become the CEO of this company,” will make you sound arrogant.

• Check out this sample answer:

“This year, I would like to focus on improving my project management skills. I have experience coordinating small software development projects, but I would like to learn more about handling bigger and more complex ventures. I’ve decided to start a certification course at PMI to gain the theoretical knowledge that I could later apply to coordinate cross-functional projects.”

• What Are Your Strengths?

The recruiting manager wants to hear about your job-related strengths. You can utilize the STAR method to tell a little tale about your strongest skill.

• Here’s how you might respond to this question:

My greatest strength is my communication skills. At my job as a counselor, I work with clients of varied cultural backgrounds. Each person has a different communication style, both verbal and non-verbal, and I must be able to read between the lines and understand their body language. I’ve recently worked with a client who could not express themselves clearly using English, but we’ve managed to establish a connection using gestures and visual aids. Thanks to that, I could provide this client with the needed support.”

• What Was Your Contribution to the Role-Play Scenario?

If you were invited to participate in a role-playing exercise with another candidate or interviewer, you might be asked this question. You should assess your behavior during the task and explain why you chose to act in this manner.

• Here’s an example answer:

“I tried to de-escalate the customer’s conduct by speaking in a calm tone of voice, using empathic language, and making a realistic promise to resolve the situation within an acceptable time frame. The customer’s disruptive behavior could ruin the experience for other restaurant customers, so I’ve chosen to comply with their wishes.”

• Who Would You Hire in This Room, and Why?

This inquiry is intended to determine whether you’ve listened to other candidates and can make quick conclusions.

• Your answer can sound like this:

“I believe that Stephanie would be a great fit for this position. She’s an experienced store manager, and her confident replies have demonstrated good leadership qualities.”

• What Was the Major Challenge for This Team?

This type of question is commonly asked after group interview activities. Consider the most challenging challenge you experienced during the task and explain how you overcome it.

• Here’s an example answer:

“The most difficult difficulty we faced was the lack of a defined leader for the group. This made it tough to decide how to distribute lesser tasks. I’ve chosen to step in and take over as leader to coordinate future efforts and ensure timely task completion.”

• How Did You Deal With the Stress Caused by the Team’s Challenges?

Team activities are designed to assess how candidates handle pressure and stress. Consider tactics that can help you remain cool in stressful times and focus on the goal.

• Check out this sample response:

“I was a little stressed at the start of the exercise, but I employed breathing techniques to keep myself calm. I tried to focus on the task’s conclusion rather than all the minor nuances.”

• Do You Have Any Questions for Us?

Oh, you do. You should always have a few questions to ask at the end of the interview. You may express your worries about the position or ask questions about something that occurred during the interview.

• Here’s an example question you can ask:

“What are the daily responsibilities for this position?”

Group Interview Tips

You have your best job interview outfit ironed, your hair freshly cut, and your best smile ready. Your dream job, the one you actually desire, is on the way. With our group job interview strategies, you can stand out.

• Know the Company

Prepare for the conference by doing your study. You can do it on Glassdoor, where job seekers and previous employees describe the recruitment process. Check out the company’s website to discover more about its ambitions. To stand out during the interview, share a little-known yet outstanding information about the organization.

• Prepare an Introduction

Don’t be taken off guard when asked to describe yourself during a job interview. Have an elevator pitch ready to tell others about yourself.

• Show Confidence

This is what they want to see. Your body language, tone of voice, and anything you say should reflect your best qualities. Make eye contact with people, sit upright, and communicate clearly.

• Respect Others

Do not be disrespectful of other applicants. Dominating the conversation will not necessarily make a favorable impression if the interviewers are looking for someone with strong interpersonal skills.

• Listen Well

Pay close attention to what other people say. Try to engage in polite conversation by agreeing with their statements, making suggestions, and commenting. Active listening is a valuable skill in many occupations.

• Be Involved

When you agree with other candidates, strive to elaborate on their responses by adding details to their statements. For example: “I agree with XYZ, but I’d also like to add that blah blah blah….”

• Use the STAR Technique

When asked to describe a difficult circumstance, use the STAR method to demonstrate how you solve problems at work.

• Ask Questions

Show your interest in the role by asking the recruiters thoughtful questions. It’s preferable to have a few questions ready before the meeting and ask them at the end of the interview.

Key Takeaways

See? Group interviews aren’t so intimidating if you’re prepared. Here’s an overview of what you can do to prepare for a group job interview:

• Research the company to understand the culture and the business goals.
• Introduce yourself to the interviewer with an impressive elevator pitch.
• Show your confidence when answering questions.
• Respect other job applicants and be friendly with them.
• Listen to what other job applicants have to say.
• Be involved in the conversation not only with the interviewer but also with other candidates.
• Ask questions to show your interest in the job.
• Remember to send a thank-you email after the job interview.