Five Panda Pointers: Advice for different interview styles

Sep 12, 2017 2:48:02 PM

When interviewing for a new job, you might think the classic interview style is a face to face meeting with the person you’ll be reporting into.

However, more companies than ever before are using different interview styles and techniques to really discover what a potential employee is all about. In the latest Panda Pointers post, we will look at (you guessed it) five different interview structures and a quick tip or two for each one.

Interview style 1: The telephone interview

Of all the different styles of interviews, the telephone interview is often the first one candidates will encounter. It’s a chance for employer and candidate to introduce themselves, have a chat and briefly discuss experience.

So, what are our two tips for the telephone interview?

  • You were attracted enough to the role to apply but this is your chance to really ask any questions you might have before you proceed any further. It’s at this early stage you can determine how this role can help you progress in your career. List down any questions you feel the job description didn’t answer.
  • Stay seated – it’s so easy to ease into the call and start pacing as you chat. We recommend having important things in front of you such as your CV and the job description. It allows you to refer to things easily while you’re talking. It doesn’t hurt to note a few past successes down that you can apply to the job description!

Find more telephone interview tips to help it be the best it can be!

Interview style 2: The face to face interview

The makings of a successful face to face interview are well known. Smile, be confident, ask questions…we could go on. In fact, there are countless tips on how to excel in a face to face interview so we won’t focus on these. The importance of this interview is that it is your first meeting in person and your chance to justify why they have invited you to meet.

  • Structure your preparation – You will be asked questions on many things, so preparing for the interview needs to be structured. Whether it’s past career experience, skills, achievements or softer skills (teamwork, working under pressure) you should map out what you think will represent you best. When it comes to the questions you’ll know what you want to say, have examples to back this up and apply your answers to the role and company.

Interview style 3: The Sequential Interview

While similar to face to face interviews, the sequential interview style will allow multiple members of the team to chat with you. Like the face to face interview, structure your interview preparation so you’ll be confident when faced with varying questions. However, here’s the main tip…

  • Be consistent – The people you meet in the sequential interview process will sit down and discuss how they feel you performed. They might even ask very similar questions to ensure you were consistent and confident in yourself when it comes to your career. That’s why the preparation is so important…you won’t want to say one thing to one interviewer and completely contradict yourself to the other.

Interview style 4 – The Panel Interview

The panel interview style, once again, should be prepared for like the face to face and sequential interview styles. The obvious difference is that you will be meeting with two or more employers and you’ll more than likely be presenting to them.

  • Include every panel member while you answer questions, even though only one of them will have asked. Keep eye contact with each panel member and direct your enthusiasm so that they all feel your passion for the role.
  • Presentations – If you prepare well, there is no reason to fear this. Be strict with yourself as it’s easy to want to squeeze plenty of impressive facts and demonstrate your skills in a presentation. Stick to the guidelines – what exactly do they want to see, how long do they want it to be and how can you demonstrate your competency concisely?

Interview style 5 – The group Interview

The group interview style is the chance to meet other candidates vying for this role and really show your strengths when it comes to working in a group. Speak clearly and make your opinion heard, be it a group discussion or a team task. BUT…

  • Don’t be overbearing. It is important to be confident in this setting, but you need to show you can listen to opinions and use this to come to a conclusion that benefits the whole group. They observers will want to see how your passion and ability to work with a group of people will benefit their team.

What’s your favourite interview style?

Whatever it may be, we hope our interview style advice will give you something to think about as you prepare for the next big job interview! Take all of these into account, as you may encounter more than one of these interview styles throughout a job search.




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