How to Run a Group Interview: A Detailed Guide on How to Conduct a Successful One
Group interviews may not be as common as one-on-ones, but they are an excellent way to narrow down a deep pool of applicants in a comparatively short amount of time. In this detailed guide, we’re going to explain how to run a group interview with some great group interview tips, from pre-interview preparation, through actually holding the session, to finally evaluating the prospective employees.
By the end, you’ll have a solid idea of what kind of group interview questions can be asked as well as a couple of group interview examples to refer to for the future.
1. What Is a Group Interview?
A group interview involves inviting multiple candidates for the same position to a single interview session. It can revolve around group interview questions and answers regarding experience, or it can be more of a skills-based test incorporating problem solving.
2. Why Should You Conduct Group Interviews?
Group interviews create an opportunity for you to directly compare candidates and assess whether they have the right qualities for a role. Multiple candidates can be assessed simultaneously, which can save time and resources. Additionally, observing candidates in a group setting can provide insight into their communication and teamwork skills, which are valuable traits in many job roles. Group interviews also give candidates the opportunity to showcase their ability to work collaboratively and demonstrate leadership potential.
3. What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Group Interviews?
The most obvious advantage of group interviews is that they save you a lot of time. Instead of arranging multiple one-on-ones, you can gather everybody together and assess them all at once, garnering a side-by-side comparison of the potential employees.
For roles where teamwork is essential, the format can help you gauge the social aptitude of the various individuals. Similarly, if the position you are hiring for is one that often involves high-pressure situations, a group interview allows you to observe how well each person copes with a more stressful environment.
Particularly in the relatively early stages of the hiring process, group interviews make it much easier to whittle down a large pool to just a handful of people you want to consider for the next phase. In scenarios where you need several staff to fill the same or similar roles, it can also be an effective means to identify multiple new employees.
Conversely, one of the biggest disadvantages of group interviews is that they can be less personal, making it difficult to gauge each candidate’s worth. More assertive personalities can cause you to overlook talented but quieter individuals who might actually be a better fit for your company.
From an organisational perspective, how to run a group interview can be a logistical challenge, in terms of arranging an interview session that suits multiple applicants. While this can be mitigated by utilising remote meeting software to a certain degree, online group interviews come with their own communication issues.
4. Best Practices on How to Run a Group Interview
4.1 Preparation
Define the Objective
As with any interview process, the first step is making sure you have a clear outline of what you are looking for in a potential employee. Should they have certain soft skills, like communication or adaptability? Are there specific capabilities required for the role, such as a knowledge of Photoshop or the ability to speak Mandarin? Do you want your candidates to have a great breadth of experience or is a willingness to learn the most important thing? Spending time carefully defining your requirements and objectives will make the hiring process much smoother.
Select Candidates to Invite
Now you know what you want, it’s time to go out and get it! Post the job ad online and begin sifting through the applications you receive. A simple tip for how to run a group interview is to let the candidates know in advance that they are participating in this format. First of all, nobody appreciates being ambushed. Secondly, it gives them time to prepare, so they can put their best foot forward. At the same time, don’t omit to mention if the session will involve technical skills assessments or written submissions.
Plan Interview Agenda
How do you conduct an interview with multiple candidates if you haven’t got a clear agenda? Initiating group interviews off the cuff is a recipe for confusion, especially if you have several interviewers taking part. Prep the questions and discuss beforehand whether one interviewer will take the overall lead in the process or if each interviewer will cover a different subject matter. If you intend to include an assessment of technical skills, this is obviously the time to plan those as well.
4.2 Starting the Group Interview
Introduce the Interviewers
The first step for how to run a group interview is to introduce the interviewing team and their positions. Beginning this way helps put people at ease and create a friendly dynamic, which in most cases will be the kind of atmosphere you want to achieve. The intro should also include a brief description of the company and the role you are hiring for, just to set the scene. You can then run through what the attendees should expect from the process.
Start with Icebreakers
Group interview activities that start off with icebreakers are a good way to loosen everyone up before getting into the real meat of the exchange. This can be as simple as asking the applicants to introduce themselves along with a unique fact. For instance, you could tell everyone to say their name, their previous/current position and their favourite movie. You can also ask ‘warm up’ queries, such as “Why did you decide to apply for the role?” or “Tell me what first got you interested in XYZ?”
Ask open-ended questions
Keep your group interview questions for the panel, open-ended so the candidates can provide more detail and you can gain new insights. For example, instead of asking, “Can you handle tight deadlines?”, phrase the question as: “Tell me about how you handled tight deadlines at your last job.”
4.3 Group discussion
Give industry-specific topics
In order to properly assess the applicants’ knowledge of your field, you will need to ask them questions related to your industry. If you work in software development, for example, you might want to raise the topic of blockchain or low-code programming. Alternatively, if you work in hospitality, you might want to know their thoughts on how Coronavirus has changed the restaurant business.
Encourage active participation
Another key element of how to run a group interview is to ensure people are engaging with the discussion. Of course, you can’t force people to speak. In fact, if someone doesn’t have much to contribute, that would be an immediate red flag. However, it is the job of an interviewer to moderate effectively. That means not allowing the louder candidates to drown out the voices of people who are either too polite or too shy to interject.
Observe communication and problem-solving skills
Most roles will involve some degree of problem solving. Through group discussion activities that encourage open expression, you can assess the different ways people reason out an approach or decide on the best course of action given a certain set of facts.
While what somebody says is important, the way they say it can also give you indicators about things like who would be good in a leadership role and who would work best in a team setting. Don’t forget to take notes on body language and tone of voice.
4.4 Assign Individual Tasks
Written assignment
Just because you’ve got multiple candidates together at one time doesn’t mean you solely need to focus on Q&As. A common group interview tool used is to set a written assignment. The benefit of doing this during an interview is that it places a time constraint on the participants while also ensuring nobody consults the internet.
One example is the paraphrasing exercise, where you ask individuals to read a document and then summarise the key information, thus testing their ability to pick out the most salient facts in a brief amount of time. Additionally, you might suggest that instead of asking for a verbal response to the group discussion questions mentioned earlier, candidates write down their responses This will help to avoid any unintentional (or intentional) mimicking of answers.
Technical skills
Another aspect of how to run a group interview is to assess technical skills. There are many pieces of software available today that can help you appraise a whole range of things, from app development to risk management. Some examples include iMocha, Mercer Mettl and TestGorilla.
Not all technical skills tests relate to IT and programming. For instance, if you are hiring for a PR position, you might ask everyone to draft a press release for a set scenario. If the role being advertised has some element of proofreading involved, you could ask applicants to edit a piece of text you’ve prepared beforehand.
4.5 Evaluate
Review notes from interviewers
The penultimate stage of the hiring process is to discuss each of the candidates with your interview panel. Some people prefer to do this soon after the group interview is concluded, while everything is still fresh. Having said that, it can be a good idea to have a cooling off period of a day so everybody can go through their own notes and assemble their thoughts, before sharing them with the other personnel involved in the hiring decision-making process.
It's perfectly feasible to do this stage remotely. A lot of applicant tracking software these days will have a built-in feedback function that allows stakeholders to share their notes alongside any assessment results. This is also helpful in terms of storing all candidate data in one place.
Make job offers
Last but not least, follow up with the applicants to let them know how they did. If it’s a more senior role, you may want to include another step in the interview process before a final decision is made. Otherwise, it’s just a case of making an offer!
5. Examples of Questions to Ask in a Group Interview
“How can your strengths benefit our company?”
This is a nice, broad open-ended question that works for any industry. It invites the candidate to discuss their capabilities within the context of your company. That way, you can not only see whether the individual’s skill aligns with what you want, but whether they have taken the time to understand your business and what it involves.
“Tell us what you think makes a strong team player.”
Here, the applicant is being asked to focus on a specific characteristic that is important for the role. The example above highlights teamwork, but it can just as easily be about leadership, communication or any other soft skill.
“What are some of the challenges you have faced with managing a remote team?”
Again, this is a more specific question than the first example but remains open-ended. Being able to recognize issues and come up with solutions is a pretty standard requirement for many occupations. This question tacitly tests how up to date a person is with trends in employment, and a similar format could be used to address something more unique to your field. For example, “What are some of the challenges you think ChatGPT presents to journalists?”
“Do you have any questions for us?”
This is a classic query common to all job interviews. Partly, it’s good to ask this because it gives everybody the chance to make sure that they fully grasp what the position entails and if it’s right for them. More importantly from a hiring person’s perspective, it means you can gauge how engaged and keen interviewees are with regards to the position.
6. What are Some Easy Group Interview Tips?
Ensure that all candidates are given equal opportunities to express themselves during the interview by allowing each person to speak and share their thoughts.
Encourage candidates to ask questions during the interview to help them gain a better understanding of the role and the company.
Identify the most important topics to cover during the group interview by prioritizing the questions that need to be discussed.
Schedule a meeting with other interviewers prior to the candidates' arrival to ensure that everyone is on the same page about the interview process, questions, and evaluation criteria.
Have a post-interview discussion with the other interviewers to discuss first impressions and observations of each candidate's strengths and areas for improvement.
7. FAQs
How to prepare for a group interview?
It's important to have a clear understanding of the role and the key competencies required for the job. Develop a list of questions that will help assess these competencies and create an agenda for the interview. Finally, consider how you will assess each candidate's performance, and be prepared to provide feedback and answer any questions they may have.
When should you conduct group interviews?
Group interviews are particularly useful in situations where you need to hire somebody fairly quickly or are choosing from a large pool of very similarly qualified people.
For which positions you should conduct group interviews?
While group interviews can be applied to any hiring process, they can be especially beneficial when you need to fill multiple similar jobs or for entry-level positions where you might have many people that seem equally appropriate on paper.
What should be the duration of group interviews?
What is the format of a group interview depends on the role you’re hiring for and how many people are participating. Half an hour is usually sufficient for small groups competing for less technical jobs, but if you are including assessment tests and written examinations, you probably will need to set aside at least an hour.
