A group interview is a very practical way of screening candidates. It’s not very common, but it saves employers a lot of time and it shows how potential employees work in a team.
It’s especially used when companies have dozens of candidates to meet and when they have to fill positions that require working within a team, interacting with clients or working at a very fast pace.
Group interviews help recruiters comparing candidates and it gives them a perspective on how they work under pressure.
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How to get noticed in a group interview
The best thing to do is to stand out, while being respectful and cooperative.
It’s important to arrive early, just like for one-on-one interviews. You don’t want to be remembered as the one who got there late. I mean, you’re supposed to be noticed, but for good reasons.
You’ll be asked to introduce yourself, so prepare a nice brief introduction, don’t mumble and use a positive body language.
Examples of group interview activities
What will you be doing? We have listed a few group interview activities to help you succeed. Remember that the goal is to show you can work well in a team, even though you are competing with everyone in the room.
Here you can find some group interview activities examples:
- Sort the inbox: applicants are split into small groups and must prioritize tasks working together, just like they would do with their inbox. Negotiation skills are very important here.
- Change the meaning: this exercise is useful to see if candidates can perceive subtle communication hints. You’ll listen a few sentences with different emphasized words. You are supposed to write them down and discuss about the differences in meaning.
- Group case study: candidates will be given a real example of a business and have to analyze it together.
- Write it down: applicants are asked to write about the group interview, what they’ve learnt and how they helped the group. This exercise is also useful to test writing abilities.
Give your contribute to the team, stand out (be a team leader!) and win the group interview activities! You’ll be starting a new job pretty soon.
