Conduct a Group Interview

Group interviews are a great way to save time when looking for the perfect employee for your company. They are also a good alternative to the traditional one-on-one interview if you are hiring multiple people for the same position, want to screen a large number of applicants, or are aiming to fill a role within a specific time frame. Instead of spending an entire day or more interviewing multiple candidates, you can interview them all at once in as little as 2 hours!

Steps

Preparing for the Group Interview

1. Give candidates advance notice of the group interview. After choosing your candidates, you should always let them know that the interview will be in a group format. These types of interviews can be nerve-racking for some people, so you want to make sure that they have time to prepare as well. Tell them how long you expect the interview to last, and the process.
2. Train interviewers before the interview. If there will be multiple people from the company conducting the group interview, be sure they are fully prepared. Every participant should have a role, understand the process from start to finish, and review interview questions in advance.
   • You may want to designate one person in charge of taking notes, while another is in charge of asking the questions or leading a team-building activity.
3. Prepare the right questions. Ask questions that require unique answers to avoid candidates influencing one another’s responses. Be sure to ask questions that are specific to the position you’re hiring for.
   • Ask open-ended questions that begin with “how” or “why” so that candidates are able to expand their responses beyond “yes” or “no.”
   • Questions that will give you a unique response will be very specific to their lives and experiences. For example, “Was there a person in your career who really made a difference?” and “Tell me about your proudest achievement.”
   • Include questions that get a good sense of their work history, such as, “What was the last project you led, and what was the outcome?” or “Give an example of ideas you’ve had or implemented.”
   • You can also ask questions to get to know the potential candidates better, such as, "What hobbies do you like to do outside of work?"

Interviewing the Candidates

1. Introduce yourself and the interviewers. First, you should thank the candidates for coming and briefly introduce everyone that will be conducting the interview.
   • When introducing yourself, state your name, position, and specific roles within the company. For example, “My name is Jane Doe, and I am the Assistant Manager here at XYZ Company. If you are chosen for this position we will be working together to conduct regular audits. It is a pleasure to meet all of you, and I thank you for coming here today.” To appear warm and inviting, smile and shake each candidate’s hand during your introduction.
   • Allow your colleagues to introduce themselves in the same way by sharing their position and roles in the company.
2. Present a brief description of what the job entails. This is the time to talk about your company’s values and the details of the position, such as responsibilities, hours, salary, benefits and benefits.
   • Make sure during this time you are clear about what the company is looking for in a prospective candidate. For example, you might say, “Here at XYZ Company, we are looking for an employee who is detail-oriented, a leader, and problem-solver.” During Q&A time, listen for clues of these traits from your applicants.
3. Ask the candidates to introduce themselves. After you and your team are introduced, ask the interviewees to introduce themselves by sharing their name and background.
   • Make introductions a little more exciting by asking fun “get to know you” questions, such as their favorite vacation or ice cream. This is a great way to build rapport within the group and showcase the candidate’s personalities.
4. Incorporate a team building activity. A quick team building activity is a great way to assess teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving skills.
   • If you’re looking for creativity, try the Scrapheap Challenge. In this activity, candidates are tasked to build a structure out of scraps (newspaper, plastic, cardboard, etc.) that could protect an egg dropped from a height. Give the applicants time to plan their structure, then additional time to build it. During the activity, observe how they work as a team, and who comes up with the most creative ideas.
   • If you want to assess problem-solving and teamwork, give your applicants some Legos and ask them to work together to create the tallest tower using the least amount of bricks. This way, you can see how well each candidate can work with a team to solve a problem.
5. Take notes during the interview. It’s important to take notes throughout the interview so you can remember important information later on. Write down the names of all the candidates and anything that sticks out to you during the interview.
   • You can also make a key for your notes: one star if you liked them, and two stars if you really liked them.
6. Differentiate your questions to avoid repeat responses. Try to ask one to two unique questions per candidate. Some questions may have been answered two to three times before some candidates even get the chance to respond.
   • For example, if you are interested in knowing about career development, you can ask the first few candidates, “How do you want to improve yourself in the next year?” Then, ask the remaining candidates, “What kind of goals would you have in mind if you got this job?” Both of these questions touch on future career goals, but are asked in a different way. If you ask new questions, you get a chance to observe each applicant’s unique responses, even if they are the last one to answer a question.
7. Set aside time for candidates to ask questions. It’s always a good sign when candidates ask questions after an interview. It shows that they have a genuine interest in the company and that they were well prepared for the interview.

Choosing the Right Candidate

1. Develop a rating system with which to judge the candidates. Look back at the notes you took during the interview and rate each candidate. Doing this will help you differentiate candidates who performed well during the interview from those who you liked less.
   • You can develop the rating system based on the number of stars you wrote down, or by the number of positive statements you made by each name.
   • Prepare a more detailed rating system by jotting down a number between 1-5 based on various categories, such as educational background, prior work experience, verbal communication, teambuilding/interpersonal skills, and overall impressions. Then, you can add up the numbers and choose the candidate with the highest score.
2. Discuss applicants with your colleagues. If you conducted the group interview with colleagues, make sure you hear their thoughts about the candidates. They may be able to provide more insight or notice something about a particular applicant that you may have missed.
   • If colleagues were involved in the interview, choosing the best candidate should be a group decision. They may be working closely with the candidate that is chosen, so you want to make sure they like the person as much as you do.
3. Consider a second interview. You and your colleagues may have narrowed it down to two candidates who meet all the job requirements, and you’re having a hard time deciding which one is best for the position. You could ask them to come in for a second interview.
   • Conduct the second interviews separately, instead of in a group format, in order to gain better insight into each applicant’s individual personalities.
4. Follow-up with the candidate you choose. Call or e-mail the candidate you believe is best for the job and let them know you would like to move forward with the hiring process.
   • This is the time to negotiate salary, benefits, and start date if your company allows it.
   • Allow the applicant 2-3 days to consider the offer and get back to you with their decision.

References

See also

• Interview a Nanny
• Interview a Client for an Engineering Project
• Conduct an Unbiased Interview
• Set Up a Meeting Space for Interviews
• Conduct a Detailed Interview
• Hire the Best Talent
• Avoid Asking Bad Interview Questions
• Set Up a Phone Interview
• Conduct a Phone Interview
• Conduct an In Person Interview

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