Interview Panels.

I am about to interview for a Workstation position and there is a going to be a panel of 5 people. This got me thinking every IT interview I have had has 5 people asking me questions. Is this normal elsewhere, even for Help Desk/ Workstation positions?

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keenon

honestly no, you may have 3 to 5 interviews with different individuals within a company, or you could 2 interviews with 2 people in each or i have had 1 interview and got offered the job party way through it. that goes to show depends on the company - anything can happen

tedjames

Every interview in government/university with the exception of one has been with a panel of two or more, sometimes with as many as six people. Interviews in the private sector for me have been with seven to eight people, but one at a time, making for a grueling day.

kurosaki00

All the colors of the rainbow man. You will have individual interviews, 5-6 panels, 1-3 panels. One interview with 5 people, then another one with 1. Maybe 3 interviews here and there.
It's at company discretion.

The only thing I've found is that always on panel interviews with 3+, someone is either a douche or is just bored out of his mind.

PocketLumberjack

kurosaki00 wrote: »

The only thing I've found is that always on panel interviews with 3+, someone is either a douche or is just bored out of his mind.

I'd agree with that.

TechGromit

PocketLumberjack wrote: »

Is this normal elsewhere, even for Help Desk/ Workstation positions?

The interview for the positions I have now was with 4 people, but there was really only one interviewer. HR was there to ensure the managers followed the process. The interviewer was a guy on the phone and the other two people didn't say much. I found out later that they rated my performance during the interview after I left, scored from 1 to 4 for each question I answered.

My most of other places I worked at were always with just one interviewer, but when I interviewed at Verizon, there were with two interviewers, they took turn asking questions, and both wrote down my answers. My last two jobs were both behavioral based interviews. They didn't ask me any questions about my resume. Verizon however had two tests I had to pass before they would even interview me. The first test was a basic math / English test, the second one was more technical based, but they told you on the website what you would be tested on, so long as you studied, it was easy enough.

Legacy User

kurosaki00 wrote: »

The only thing I've found is that always on panel interviews with 3+, someone is either a douche or is just bored out of his mind.

LOL! Very true!

networker050184

Most common thing I've seen in recent years is less of a panel and more of multiple individual interviews. Get some one on one time with each of the interviewers. I've still had a few panels here and there, but they seem to be a lot less popular.

gespenstern

I've been to 15 people panels, LOL.

I'm not a big fan personally as this system is rather far from being equally just towards all candidates and depends a lot on general likeability.

When I do screening I prefer a standardized method of testing each candidate with the same set of questions and scenarios and measuring their skillset by reviewing how close their answers are to the correct ones, which are discussed and established by the team, that's where the "panel" is useful.

keenon

kurosaki00 wrote: »

All the colors of the rainbow man. You will have individual interviews, 5-6 panels, 1-3 panels. One interview with 5 people, then another one with 1. Maybe 3 interviews here and there.
It's at company discretion.

The only thing I've found is that always on panel interviews with 3+, someone is either a douche or is just bored out of his mind.

I have had this experience myself ..lol

keenon

gespenstern wrote: »

I've been to 15 people panels, LOL.

I'm not a big fan personally as this system is rather far from being equally just towards all candidates and depends a lot on general likeability.

When I do screening I prefer a standardized method of testing each candidate with the same set of questions and scenarios and measuring their skillset by reviewing how close their answers are to the correct ones, which are discussed and established by the team, that's where the "panel" is useful.

I also use the testing approach. The first is a written screening. Can you answer these questions? Then in person lab scenarios all of which if their level is there they should be able to answer them. The questions are low, mid and advanced and you get scored on the ones you answer. I hired the one guy that was able to do most of them. He has been a great help to me

ITBot

Every interview I've had at a university was always a panel interview and a mix of technical and non technical individuals. I had to be careful to work my explanations in a way that everyone could understand and I focused on giving everyone equal attention as well.

EANx

There's only one interview panel type that intimidates me, that's the one where someone doesn't appear to be a part of the crowd, is curt, asks no questions, is very observant and takes a lot of notes. I really dislike someone with training as a cop or psychologist at a technical interview.

UncleB

EANx wrote: »

I really dislike someone with training as a cop or psychologist at a technical interview.

Why?

It is a chance for the employer to weed out the liars and psychos at this stage so it a very useful tool for them - just be yourself and so long as you are not one of the red-flagged categories you won't have an issue with them.

I do a lot of interviewing of candidates and the toolset of psychological analysis is invaluable in screening out the undesirables - body language can be controlled as can the voice, but the eyes are the biggest giveaway of a liar. Other undesirable features are more easily identifiable through role-play scenarios (ie where I act the role of a customer or manager and you act the role you are applying for), the setting is a normal difficult work situation then it goes sideways. Seeing how some people react to being far out their comfort zone is a most effective filter of all kinds of personalities and psychological risks.

In the end if you have nothing to hide, there is nothing to fear from this analysis, so filter them out.

EANx

I know exactly why they do it and even when you aren't lying, knowing you're being evaluated for something other than technical ability can throw you off, make you self-concious and cause you to make errors in the technical part that you wouldn't otherwise.

Trucido

The most i've interviewed with at one time was 2. (Help Desk)

UncleB

EANx wrote: »

I know exactly why they do it and even when you aren't lying, knowing you're being evaluated for something other than technical ability can throw you off, make you self-concious and cause you to make errors in the technical part that you wouldn't otherwise.

Most support jobs are going to have situations come up regularly that will throw you off, so they need to see how you cope when put in this sort of situation. It is a really sensible approach on their part.

On the candidate side, if you can't handle the pressure then work on self improving your ability to do so - it is invaluable in many parts of life (not just work) and will make you better at your job in all probability.

Think of it as an opportunity for improvement and if you do suffer from it then when you get the question "what are your weaknesses" then you can say this is one of them but you are working on building your confidence so interviews like this on don't make me feel intimidated. It will be true and show the interviewers that they are influencing your behavior through this technique and they are less likely to read too much into it.

Only my opinion of course.

PocketLumberjack

EANx wrote: »

I know exactly why they do it and even when you aren't lying, knowing you're being evaluated for something other than technical ability can throw you off, make you self-concious and cause you to make errors in the technical part that you wouldn't otherwise.

I guess I have been lucky, all of my panel interviews have had all IT staff involved.

PocketLumberjack

In case anyone is wondering I am just as exhausted after a 3 person panel as I was after a 5. I just finished an interview for a different job than my OP and I am so exhausted it is hard to work lol.

TheFORCE

Hang in there, it gets better after you get some experience.

PocketLumberjack

TheFORCE wrote: »

Hang in there, it gets better after you get some experience.

Thanks for that, I have a buddy who is applying for much higher level jobs and it is inspiring to watch. I'll get my ticket to ride any day now...