What is a Panel Interview?- Tips to Ace It

Interviews

Interviews play a prominent role in the recruitment process. It is an effective tool to assess the suitability of an individual who appears for the interview. An interview is a formal and structured conversation in which the interviewer asks questions to the interviewee. Depending on where the interview is used, the interviewee can be a job applicant, internship candidate, or student applying for admission to an educational institution. Here, let’s know What is a Panel Interview? The following points highlight the importance of interview – 

•  An interview helps the business organization to evaluate the job applicants and select the candidate who is suitable for the job position.
• An interview is an efficient tool for assessing the candidate’s personality and checking whether the candidate’s personality and critical thinking skills match the job profile or not.
• An interview is also helpful for the applicant, as it is a two-way communication process as the candidate gets the opportunity to know more about the organization and clarify any doubts regarding the job profile.
• Conducting an interview also helps the organization check the authenticity of the information provided by the applicant in his or her job application.

Generally, job interviews are conducted as one on one interviews, panel interviews, or group interviews.

This article provides information about the concept of a panel interview and various tips that will help interviewees to perform well in panel interviews.

Panel Interview

A panel interview is a type of interview in which two or more interviewers are interviewing a participant at the same time. Panel interview enables all the interviewers to assess the candidate according to their opinion and thought process. The main aim of the panel interview is to judge the communication skills of the candidates and their ability to answer questions of multiple interviewers. So through this type of interview, it becomes easy to determine the candidate’s ability to handle pressure under intense workload, concentration level, and multitasking ability. The number of interviewers may vary according to the job role.

Advantages of a panel interview

Different types of interviews provide varying advantages to business organizations. Similarly, conducting panel interviews can help the business organization in a multitude of ways. The benefits of using panel interviews to evaluate candidates are discussed as follows – 

• Proper assessment – Using panel interviews helps the business organization to properly assess the various job applicants. If the interview is conducted by one interviewer, the interviewer may not be in a position to evaluate the candidate on various aspects. However, panel interviews involve multiple interviews evaluating the candidate, so it results in a better assessment of the candidate, and accordingly the decision to employ the candidate can be taken.
• Fewer chances of bias – One-on-one interviews are generally more prone to be affected by bias, as the interviewer may tend to be biased about a candidate. This may be conscious or unconscious biases. However, panel interviews are free from this limitation, as there are multiple interviewers, so the chances of a candidate being affected by bias are very less in a panel interview.
• Efficient hiring process – The hiring process of an organization is specifically aimed to hire the most suitable employees to work in the organization. Panel interviews can contribute to increasing the efficiency of the hiring process by evaluating candidates in a way through which the candidate’s abilities to work in a team and respond to multiple superiors are tested. So using panel interviews to assess job candidates helps the organization to ensure that only the right candidates are selected for the job. 
• Testing communication skills – Business organizations require employees who are confident and can appropriately present themselves.  Panel interviews can be used to identify the effectiveness of the communications skills of a candidate in a better way, as responding to questions of multiple interviews require up-to-mark communication skills. 

Tips to ace panel interviews 

Job interviews are an important part of the hiring process. The candidate needs to clear the interview round if he or she wants to land the job with the organization of their preference. Preparation plays an important role in the success of a job interview. Panel interviews may seem to be a challenge for the candidate, as the candidate will have to face more than two or more interviews. The various tips that will help a candidate to clear panel interviews comfortably are mentioned below–

• Preparation – Candidates who are to appear for a panel interview need to prepare themselves for the same. The candidate should have appropriate knowledge about the job roles and duties as various questions asked by the panel may be related to the job itself. The candidate should gather important information about the organization as well. Candidates shall practice various aspects of the interview beforehand so that there are no mistakes on the day of the interview. Better preparation will help the individual to overcome anxiety or nervousness at the time of the interview.
• Dress professionally – The way an individual dresses up for an interview has an important impact on the entire interview. A candidate who is formally dressed for the interviews signifies genuine interest in appearing for the interview and qualifying for the job. Most organizations specify the dressing code for job interviews in advance, however, if the organization does not specify any dress code, it is advisable to dress professionally. Well-dressed candidates can manage to give a positive first impression on all the panel members.
• Arrive on time – Timings for the interviews are provided to the candidates in advance so that there is no delay of any kind in reaching the venue for the interview. So, the candidate should make sure to reach the venue before time so that interview is conducted at the scheduled time. If the candidate reaches late for the interview, such a candidate may be perceived as non-serious and none punctual by the panel members. This will seriously hamper the chances of the candidate getting selected for the job. However, in case the candidate has reached late due to a genuine reason, the candidate must convey the information about the same to the panel members so that they can understand the cause of the delay.
• Greet the panel members – Upon entering the interview room, the candidate should confidently greet all the panel members.  This will help the candidate to begin the interview process on a positive note.
• Body language – Body language plays an important role in any interview, whether it be known one interview or panel interview. A candidate participating in a panel interview needs to carry positive and effective body language throughout the interview. The effective body language of a candidate helps to form a positive impression on the panel members. The following are the key points about body language that an interviewee must focus on – 

1. Maintain a good posture – A good posture is an important component of body language. The interviewee should maintain a good posture and walk confidently while entering the interview room and also while sitting in front of the panel members, the posture should be in an upright position. An upright posture helps to signify the confidence of the candidate. The candidate should avoid tapping legs and keep the legs still and uncrossed.
2. Eye contact – Maintaining eye contact with the panel members holds great importance in a panel interview. The candidate while starting his or her introduction should maintain eye contact with all the interviewers. Avoiding eye contact signifies a lack of confidence on the part of the interviewee. Well-maintained eye contact helps to depict the interviewee’s confidence and professionalism to the panel members.
3. Gestures – Gestures are an important part of effective communication. Using hand gestures while answering the questions of panel members help to get the message across to the panel members in a better way. However excessive use of gestures while talking should be avoided.

• Be patient – Panel interviews can make the candidates nervous and the candidate might feel pressure while answering the questions of multiple interviewers. Interviewers may ask questions that tend to confuse the candidate. As there is more than one interviewer, the questions may also get repeated, In such situations, the candidate should be patient while answering the questions and do not show any negative emotions such as being annoyed by the questions of the interviewers. 

• Building rapport – Establishing rapport is one of the most prominent elements of effective communication. The interviewee shall aim to build rapport with all the panel members who are conducting the interview. If the candidate manages to build rapport with the panel members, the result of the interview will likely be a favorable one.
• Ask questions – At the end of the interview, the candidate should ask the panel members any questions he or she has in their mind. This will help to clarify any doubts about the job or the organization that a candidate has. The candidate who asks genuine and important questions at the end of the interview is perceived as an individual who has high levels of commitment and is keenly looking forward to working with the organization. 
• Online panel interview – Amidst the covid-19 pandemic, many business organizations opt for online panel interviews rather than having the candidate visit the venue for the interview. If the panel interview is to be conducted online, the following tips should be followed to ensure that the interview becomes a successful one.

1. The candidate should obtain prior information about which online platform will be used by the interviewer for conducting the interview. The various applications generally used for conducting online interviews are Zoom, Google Meet, and Skype. The candidate should install the concerned application on their laptop, personal computer, or mobile phone and enter the necessary information to avoid any confusion at the time of the online panel interview. Generally, it is advisable to attend the online interview on a laptop or personal computer.
2. The candidate should ensure that for the interview to be conducted smoothly, proper arrangements for the internet should be made so that there are no unnecessary interruptions due to poor network.
3. For an online panel interview, the candidate should use a location at home that is free from any disturbance or distractions and has good lighting, so that interview can go ahead as planned.
4. The candidate should log in to the interview link before 5 to 10 minutes of the scheduled time. It will help the candidate tackle any technical problem in advance and be ready when the interview begins.
5. The candidate should dress professionally and sit in an upright posture.

Conclusion – To conclude it can be said that conducting panel interviews certainly provides some undeniable advantages to business organizations. However, the panel interview may be challenging for the candidate who is applying for a job. Proper practice and confidence can help the candidate to face the question of panel members in a better way. The interviewee should aim to give his or her best in the panel interview, as the panel members in an interview are generally the key people of the organization, and if the interviewee manages to impress them with his or her talent, the candidate is likely to land a job with the organization.

Frequently asked questions

Question 1.  What are the various disadvantages of panel interviews?

Answer 1. Although panel interviews have various benefits, they are certainly not free from limitations. The disadvantages of panel interviews are- 

• Panel interviews tend to create pressure on the candidate, so the candidate who is competent and qualified for the job may get nervous and anxious during the panel interview and may not be able to clear the interview round.
• Panel interviews may lose their relevance if the panel members are not able to get along.

Question 2. Can a job applicant be selected for a job without any interview?

Answer 2. Interviews are considered part and parcel of the hiring process. Interviews are conducted for various jobs in the hierarchical setup. So it is unlikely that a job applicant can get the job without an interview. The time duration of the interview is dependent on the job position in question.