Group interviews: what is the point of such interviews

One of the forms of “non-traditional interviews” can be called group interviews - when during an interview on one side of the negotiation process there is more than one person. Depending on which side the group gathered, there are 2 types of group interviews:

    group - when several applicants are present at the interview;
    panel - when several interviewers conduct an interview.

The reputation of group interviews is fundamentally negative - representatives of network marketing, who often use just this form of interview, pretty much ruined it. Therefore, one can understand why many applicants are frightened by this form of interview, but everything is not so simple. Features of this type of interviews and considers Work.ua.
Group interview

Group interviews are justified if leadership and communication skills are important for a potential candidate - during a group interview they are the easiest to show. Therefore, group interviews are often used to find leadership positions and in the mass selection of specialties, where confidence, initiative and communication with a large audience are the most important skills: advertisers, PR managers, sales managers, promoters, journalists, realtors, insurance and travel agents, call operators centers.

Group interviews are meaningless for those professionals whose responsibilities do not include working with people in stressful situations, and do not need to show leadership qualities: accountants, engineers, IT specialists, analysts, editors - in a word, all those who quietly do their work in their office work.
Typical Group Interview Scenario

Although somewhat generalized, the steps described below are found in almost every group interview.
Presentation of the company

Presenting a company and a job once instead of -11 saves interviewers time. For applicants, it is very important at this stage to ask questions in order to understand whether such a vacancy is affordable or not. And even if the internal culture of the company is very impressive, you go to a specific position to work, therefore, first of all, work should be on the shoulder.
Questioning

In order not to lose all invited applicants, interviewers conduct a simple questionnaire. Indicate the information that you consider necessary.
Short self-presentation

This is a mandatory moment of all group interviews, which scares many: you need to briefly tell about yourself - unobtrusively, but surely advertise yourself, your abilities and skills. You have to talk about yourself at any interview, but here the effect of public speaking is connected. The pre-prepared “presentation for the elevator” will help to cope with this stage.
Group assignments

When conducting a group interview, candidates are combined into a group and offered to cope with a real or imaginary problem that can be encountered in the process of working for a particular company. The leader of the formed group is either appointed by the interviewer, or the informal leader will manifest on his own.

Group interview involves creative tasks in the group, a manifestation of initiative. Be prepared for tasks on logic, a test of general knowledge or with a catch, as well as a game form of communication. For the seeming frivolity of the action, the employer draws the most interesting information by observing the applicants in the so-called small group.

Thus, during a group interview, the employer can assess the merits of each of the candidates: sociability, creativity, leadership inclinations, the ability to defend one's opinion reasonably.
The group interview will not end

A group interview may be the next step after a standard interview, but rather, this is the first step that results in screening out candidates. And selected applicants are often waiting for a one-on-one or panel interview. This can be explained by the fact that during a group interview some qualities of the applicant appear and others are hidden.

You need to understand that with this form of interview, candidates are selected in contrast - that is, it all depends on the group as a whole, which has selected. As a result, they will choose the best from a particular group.
Panel interview

You come for an interview, and several people are already waiting for you in the office - this is a panel interview, one of the types of group interviews.

This common form of interview replaces the applicant with several stages of interviews with various specialists of the company, which saves his time. But the panel itself is not the most comfortable, because the situation itself crushes - there are more than three people in the room and everyone carefully scans the applicant.