HOW TO ACE A PANEL INTERVIEW

When preparing for a panel interview, you’ll want to cover all of the usual interview preparations for any interview – like researching the company, reviewing your resume, coming up with examples and stories you can share to highlight your past accomplishments, etc.

However, there are some additional tips you should do and keep in mind if you want to ace your panel interview and walk-in fully prepared. They are (but not limited to these):

1. Practice great body language and eye contact: Keep eye contact and ensure you keep an upright posture, keeping your hands and feet still (not tapping), etc
2. Try and find out who will be on the panel interview and research a bit about them. You can ask the person who scheduled the interview for their names and roles and look them up on LinkedIn, this makes you feel more confident and relaxed during the interview process, and gives better interview answers. 
3. Take Notes: You should go along with a notepad when going for panel interviews because you’ll need to remember key facts about the position when you follow-up, when you ask questions later, and when you prepare for future interviews or discuss the role further. So take notes, but remember one rule: It’s called the 90% rule. Maintain eye contact 90% of the time throughout the panel interview. That means less than 10% of your time should be spent looking down or taking notes.
4. Ask as many questions as possible: It’s important to ask questions in a panel interview. So a big portion of your effort in preparing for the panel interview should be writing down (on your notepad) great and questions to ask them.
5. Build rapport and try to make a strong connection: Do your best to build a connection with as many people in the panel interview as possible.Remember in any interview, and especially a panel interview, they’re not just evaluating your skills and experience – they’re looking to see how you’ll fit in with the current team, company culture and more.
6. Learn the names of your interviewers: Take note of each person’s name when you first sit down in the panel interview. This can be difficult, but the best way to remember is to repeat the person’s name back to them after hearing it.
7. Thank each panel member at the end of the interview: Whether you successfully remembered each person’s name or not, look them in the eye, shake their hand, and thank them for their time at the end of the interview.
8. Know whom to follow up with before leaving: It is okay to ask whom to follow up with regarding the next steps and when to expect feedback. It reduces your worry of waiting and unsure of whom to follow up with.