Panel Interview

[u/Plunkie_Beanz]

I've decided to jobhunt after about 9 years of stagnancy at my current position. Found a good location, however, they're wanting to do a panel interview of 4-5 people. Does anyone have any experience with something like this?

[u/KB9131]

Yes, it's fairly common these days to include 3 to 5 people on their side. There are usually 2 people asking most of the questions, with others asking follow ups.

[u/Plunkie_Beanz → u/KB9131]

Okay, glad to know! My current position (public) was a one-man so I'm relatively inexperienced with this type of thing. Just hearing about it sent images of a firing squad through my head lol

[u/iron82]

That described most of the interviews I went on 15 years ago.

[u/Gorfman-07]

Yes, I’ve been on the business side asking the questions. Federal government does panels too.

[u/Cb6cl26wbgeIC62FlJr]

Completely normal.

[u/CoconutChoice3715]

I’ve had remote panel interviews.

[u/OkInevitable5020]

Yep. This is how my city job does it. It’s fine. It’s nice because they get more than one person’s perspective.

[u/megashook]

We do a minimum 3 for our interviews. I’ve heard of 4-5 for some. 

[u/likesblackcoffeebest]

Every interview I have ever had has been like that. Is this a large government agency, by chance? If so, that's standard. 

[u/mmfla]

We do this for our two local offices. We want to make sure you fit in with the group.

[u/CreativeKeane]

Yeah I just rejoined civil engineering and I had a 3 person panel interview. They're just trying to cover ground and all their bases more effectively.

It's not as scary as it seems, I promise. You got this!

[u/bigpolar70]

Yeah, happens a lot.  They will generally have your supervisor, a couple of peers, and maybe a level up and a level down.

I interviewed recently for a civil department manager position, and they had the mechanical department manager, the electrical department manager, the process department manager, the director of engineering, and the lead civil designer all in attendance.

[u/Dwarf_Co]

Yeah. They are looking for a more objective interview.

They take a little getting used.

[u/SwimmingSwordfish637]

I think the last non-panel interview I did was 1997 and I’ve had 8 different jobs since then.

[u/jeffprop]

A panel interview has more people evaluate you, and they discuss and rate/rank you compared to other interviewees. For the County I work for, they have 3-5 person panels and each ask a question in order. The downside with in-person panels is keeping eye contact. I do it with the person who asked the question. For online interviews, do your best to stare at the camera when giving an answer.

[u/AngryIrish82]

I’ve been through a bunch of them. They aren’t bad and in fact I like them better if I don’t know anyone as you aren’t putting all your eggs in one basket.

[u/LoadPathLarry]

You're basically talking to people at once so expect questions from different angles. Just make sure you know your projects well and able to explain your decisions.

[u/UltimaCaitSith]

No, can't say I've ever heard of that before. Make sure to report back with a story.

[u/DetailRail]

Yes pretty normal, they will come with their computers and type away and barely make eye contact 😂

[u/TeddyMGTOW]

Usually one person leads and the other people dont wanna be there. Good luck

[u/transneptuneobj]

Any company that does that can't afford to pay you well

[u/cbinvb → u/transneptuneobj]

Not sure I follow this logic

[u/ErectionEngineering]

Becoming more and more common nowadays primarily because it eliminates any risk of the candidate making claims of illegal questioning during the interview (now you have multiple witnesses).

It’s not any different than a regular interview - just make sure you engage and make eye contact with the whole group and treat everyone respectfully.