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By Mary Pergander American Libraries Columnist Mary Pergander is director of the Lake Bluff (Ill.) Public Library. She received her MS in library and information science from the University of Illinois in 2002. Contact her at working@ala.org. Column for February 2006 |
Mastering the Group Interview
Consider these questions:
A) My manager has decided to include staff members in interviews for new employees. What should I ask a potential new coworker?
B) Our board is hiring a new director. The recruiter suggests board members interview the top candidate as a team, along with some staff and the president of the Friends. How common is this?
C) I am a candidate for a terrific position. The director told me all the managers would interview me as a group. How can I prepare for that type of interview?
From staff to board members and all stops in between, many organizations use group interviews as part of the selection process. In fact, according to Mary Lynn Fayoumi, president and CEO of the Management Association of Illinois, the team interview process is now the norm. She finds that having a diverse group in the interview improves decision-making and can also help interviewees make informed decisions about joining a team.
However, for the unsuspecting or unprepared, group interviews can be quite unnerving. So how can you master them, whether you are the candidate or the interviewer?
If you are planning a group interview, carefully select members to represent a cross section of the organization or even the community. Develop a scripted list of questions, perhaps soliciting ideas from the group ahead of time. Ask only legally allowed questions, and if possible, have them reviewed by your lawyer or a human resources professional.
If you are an interviewer, be sure to attend any orientation session and follow the scripted questions. Having a consistent base from which to evaluate candidates can make selection easier and more fair. Take notes to help you accurately recall a candidate afterward.
As a candidate, ask who might be participating in the interview. Be sure to review pertinent written materials and web pages of the organization.
Not every aspect of the group interview takes place in a conference room. For example, the interview process may include a facility tour. Consider this a walk-around group interview. Along the route, candidates meet other employees, making eye contact, greeting them, and absorbing the surroundings. More than one person has lost a job opportunity after speaking inappropriately to a staff member while waiting for an interview to begin.
The group interview provides an excellent opportunity for a candidate to learn about the team as well. Prepare a few questions of your own, and then observe the group during the responses. Also consider:
- Did the group members seem to interact comfortably and respectfully?
- What is the apparent relationship between the person to whom you will report and that person's boss, if present?
- Did you feel like you fit right in, or did you feel like an alien?
Interviewers should share their thoughts and impressions with the group to help make the best decision possible.
Candidates should send a personal note to the individual who was the primary contact. In the past, this was just good manners, but in today's competitive job environment a handwritten note can help set you apart. Three or four well-thought-out lines are adequate, but get it done right away.
With some thoughtful planning and a few deep breaths, you can do well during group interviews, regardless of your role. You may even learn to enjoy them!
What tips can you share?
- Before we interviewed the first candidate, we received a 15-minute orientation about how to act during a group interview, how to ask the questions we were given, even how to ask follow-ups and what not to ask. That helped all of us relax and feel more confident about participating. —Interviewer
- I hate to speak in public, and the idea of a group interview worried me. To relax, I tried to focus on the individuals, not the group. When answering, I first made good eye contact with the person asking the question, and then I looked at other individuals as I continued the answer. I could see that some of them were as nervous as I was! —Candidate
(c) Copyright 2006 American Library Association