How to approach group interviews - advice from a career coach

When you’ve finally made it past the first hurdle and secured an interview, you might be thrown by the idea of doing one with lots of other people, so here’s my advice about how to approach group interviews. They are currently common in many graduate processes and some other interviews, so it’s worth understanding how to prepare for them.  

Preparing for your group interview 

You should first prepare for your group interview the way you would for a standard interview – researching the company, refreshing yourself on your success stories linked to the job description and role profile of the vacancy you applied for, preparing questions to ask the interviewer and getting yourself ready to sell yourself.  

But there are extra things to be aware of when getting into the right mindset for a group interview.  

In a group interview, you may be asked to participate in group discussions or a problem solving task. Here you are being assessed on how you work in a group; it’s an opportunity for the assessors to see how well you communicate and interact with others, how you contribute ideas and suggestions, how well you can problem solve and work effectively as a team, how well you can influence others, how you plan and organise and how you ultimately deal with the task thrown at you.  I 

Consider the kinds of skills and abilities the assessors will be looking for so you can try to demonstrate them naturally within the exercises. You will need to able to introduce yourself confidently to the rest of the group, so practice doing this as well as thinking ahead about any relevant skills/experiences you could take the opportunity to mention.  

Think about the different roles that will be needed in the group task, this could be about how the group interpret and follow the instructions, making sure someone is watching the time, helping to assign responsibilities or navigating the group to an agreed approach. The key here is to actively participate, offer ideas and suggestions, listen to others and build on people’s ideas or points. It’s about being mindful that everyone needs a voice and a chance to speak, so asking others for their thoughts and bringing in any quieter people can show your leadership qualities. There isn’t always a right answer in group interview tasks; often the ask is more about how you get to a consensus 

What can I expect to do at a group interview? 

Usually, group interviews will involve multiple interviewers or assessors. The assessors will be observing different people to focus on the skills and behaviours relevant to the job and taking detailed notes of their contributions and interactions.  

It’s also important to be prepared to talk in front of a group. This could come up in a number of ways, whether through simply in introducing yourself with some key information, during the group task or delivering a presentation – whether that’s one you have pre-prepared or have to prepare there and then.  

Group interviews are often part of graduate recruitment processes and can vary widely. If you’re invited for a full day when applying, you can expect that it will involve a number of elements. Part of it to be assessed via group work, perhaps combined with an individual presentation task and 1-2-1 interview  It may also involve individual assessments and role-play activities, make sure you read the instructions thoroughly so you know in advance what you might experience.   

It’s worth checking Glassdoor or Indeed to see whether other people have written about their experience of a group interview at the company you’ve applied to. This may give you some insight into what lies ahead.  

Collective interviews – getting the balance right  

Being successful in a collective interview isn’t about being the loudest voice in the room. That said, the assessors need to be able to see your contribution, so hanging back and always letting others speak won’t be in your best interest either. You need tobe courageous and speak out during discussions, but you don’t need to be constantly leading the conversation.  

Unlike a traditional interview when you’re the only person being asked the questions, doing well in a group interview depends a lot on your ability to balance your contribution with other people’s, Success isn’t about being the leader or the person who comes up with the right answer. It’s about showing you can operate in a new and diverse team while taking on challenging tasks. Look for opportunities to agree and support someone else’s contribution or maybe elaborate or add to someone’s point. It can be good to raise a question or suggest another approach or idea, summarise discussions when people have had the chance to explore to help reach a conclusion or agreed way forward, and to nudge people to action where needed. These are all ways to show how you work effectively within a group setting. 

Why are group interviews used? 

Companies tend to use group interviews to see lots of people at once. It’s very efficient for them and has the added advantage of seeing candidates interacting with other people in realistic scenarios and the same environment, which is different to how you may experience someone if you had a conversation 1-2-1.  

However, as the vast majority of jobs involve some element of working with other people, collective interviews are also a smart way to see how a candidate conducts themselves in that situation.  

A group interview is likely to be part of the first stage of the interview process. When you’ve made it through this bit you may be invited back to a second stage which may be another interview, individual task and/or presentation. 

If you still have questions about how to approach a group interview and want the benefit of advice from a career coach, send me an email to see how I could help you prepare.