Panel interview tips

How panel interviews work

A panel interview has two or more interviewers, often from different parts of the organisation: a hiring manager, someone from the team and perhaps a colleague from HR. They may take turns asking questions from an agreed list, and each may make their own notes on your answers.

If you are not told who will be on the panel, it is reasonable to ask the organiser. Knowing their roles helps you predict what each person cares about.

One answer, several listeners

On a panel, the hiring manager might be listening for results, a specialist for how you did the work and someone from HR for how you treated people, all in the same answer. You cannot give three answers, but you can build one in layers so that each person hears their part.

1. Headline first.

   Open with the outcome in plain words. Everyone can follow it, and the manager hears the result straight away.

2. Then the method, with terms explained once.

   Give the specialist the real detail, but gloss any jargon in a few words the first time (“a cohort analysis, so comparing customers by the month they joined”). The specialist loses nothing, and everyone else keeps up.

3. Then the people.

   Say who you worked with and how you brought them along. This is often the part the rest of the panel is listening for.

4. Offer more rather than give it all.

   Close with “I can go into the technical side if that’s useful.” The specialist can ask, and the panel stays on schedule.

A layered answer

Last year I cut the time it took us to close the monthly accounts from eight working days to five. The delay was mostly in reconciling supplier invoices by hand, so I set up a matching rule in our finance system that flagged only the invoices that didn’t match an order, which meant the team checked dozens instead of hundreds. Before switching over, I ran both methods side by side for a month with the two colleagues who did the matching, and they suggested two of the rules we kept. I’m happy to go into how the matching rules work if that’s useful.

The result comes first, the method has enough detail for a specialist without losing anyone else, the colleagues’ part answers the people question, and the last line offers depth instead of forcing it on the whole panel.

Same question. Your story.Free, no account neededUp to two minutesRecord my answer

Leave room for note-takers

Panellists often write while you speak, especially when they score answers against an agreed list. If you move straight from a key fact into the next sentence, the person writing it down misses what comes next.

Pause for a second after a number, a result or the name of a skill the job advert asks for. In DontBlank these show up as well-placed pauses between ideas, which is exactly where you want them.

Answering the panel

1. Greet everyone.

   Say hello to each person, not only the most senior one.

2. Start with the questioner.

   Begin your answer looking at the person who asked, then include the others as you go, especially when you make a key point.

3. Expect follow-ups from anyone.

   Panellists may come at your answer from different angles. Treat a follow-up as interest: answer it, then finish your point if needed.

4. Finish with the questioner.

   Return your attention to the person who asked as you finish, so it is clear your answer is complete.

Online panels

On a video call you cannot look at one person, so use names when it helps: “That’s a good question, Priya.” Keep answers well structured, because it is harder for a panel to signal online that they have heard enough.

Practise for several listeners

Record one of your answers, then listen to it twice: once as the least technical person on the panel and once as the most technical. If the first listener gets lost, gloss a term or move the result earlier. If the second hears nothing new, add one concrete detail about how you did it.