The Group Interview

The group interview lets your potential employer see how a range of candidates interact with one another in a more social situation than a one-on-one question and answer session allows.

It also enables the interviewer to compare candidates to each other, and this should work in your favour.

The trick is to understand what the interviewer is looking for, make considered contributions, and avoid ringing any alarm bells (there’ll normally be a couple of candidates that will set enough off for everyone…)

So what are they looking for?

Well, we’ve pinched a group interview scorecard from a business media publisher and here’s what was on it...

Participation
Being involved without taking over

Spoken Expression
Communicating clearly and persuasively

Originality of Ideas
Creative thinking

Quality of Thought
Are your ideas relevant and workable?

Influence on Others
Do other people listen to you and agree with your ideas?

Open Mindedness
Do you judge on merit or push your ideas down others throats?
(clue: the first one will go down better)

Facilitation of the Discussion
Do you encourage quieter members of the group to voice their opinions? Did you keep a check on the time?

Judgement
Are your decisions based on a sound consideration of the evidence?

The Basics

Trust that the interviewers know what they’re doing and try to be yourself. You should view the group interview as an assessment of your suitability rather than a test to pass or fail – if it doesn’t go well, it’s likely that it just wasn’t the right position for you.

Be sociable in small measures before the interview starts and between exercises. Yes it can be awkward to be the first one to say hello but we’re not looking for overly shy people here!

If you are given written instructions for a group exercise, underline key phrases and make sure you evaluate each point, looking for any red herrings.

Even if someone else has the responsibility for timekeeping, keep an eye on your watch and make sure you don’t dwell too long in one area and don’t complete the task.

Don’t vote on things, put your argument across and be persuasive.  If the others don’t see it your way, be gracious and develop support for your second choice.

Don’t belittle suggestions and listen more than you speak!

The Traps to Avoid

Let’s start with the bad stuff as frankly it’s more amusing. If you want to succeed in your group interview be honest with yourself – do you ever show any of the following behaviours…?

Aggressor
Hostile, disrespectful – sometimes candidates can be so excited about their idea that they don’t listen to others and this enthusiasm comes across as aggression

Attention-seeker
Me, me…MEEE!!!!! Boasts and wants too much of the limelight

Autocrat/dominator
Wants to take over the discussion, dominates and interrupts

Avoider
Refuses to focus or contribute

Blocker
Raises objections and brings up the same topic after the rest of the group have agreed and moved on

Butterfly
Finds it hard to stay on the current topic

Clown
Uninvolved and destructive, distracts the group with jokes and cynical comments

Critic
Full of negativity and puts down the ideas of others (but never suggests alternatives)

Help seeker
Looks for sympathy from others – victim alert!

Self-confessor
Forgive me father…the confessor uses the group as an inappropriate forum to talk about themselves

Show Off
The typical know it all revealing how little they actually know

Brownie Points

In contrast here are some of the positive roles that people assume in group situations. Remember they’re not mutually exclusive so you can show that you are socially skilled and good in teams by showing different elements of your character at different times as the task allows.

Clarifier
Expands on ideas with examples and explanations

Compromiser
Helps in resolving disagreements and conflicts between others.

Coordinator/summariser
Brings together the group’s ideas into a coherent structure

Encourager
Encourages quieter members of the group to add their thoughts

Evaluator
Keeps the analysis measured and the discussion balanced

Information opinion giver
Gives facts and information and shares his own opinion

Information opinion seeker
Encourages others to contribute ideas and opinions

Initiator
Gets things going, happy to suggests new ideas and solutions

Leader
Not necessarily the easiest role to master as in a new group this can easily tip over into dominance. The best way to show leadership is to encourage others and divert attention from any negative participants, rather than make all the decisions and bulldoze the others.

Orientor
Gives direction to and defines the goal of the discussion

Recorder
Taking notes is important but on it’s own won’t get you hired – we’re looking for salespeople not secretaries…

Supporter
Praises and agrees with others

Tension Reliever
Makes people feel relaxed by cracking jokes and generating humour

So what will we be asked to do?

The tasks you’ll be asked to complete can vary massively from coming up with a new idea for a magazine to be presented to the group, to balloon debates or other problem solving/persuading challenges [click here for balloon debates explained].

The activity is of secondary importance to the roles you play within it so relax, think critically and positively, and enjoy it!