To land a job, you’ll need to pass two to five interview rounds. One of these rounds may be a panel interview.  Unlike a standard one, a panel interview means you’ll be facing several decision-makers at once. That can feel intimidating, so you should come well-prepared.

In this post, we provide our best panel interview tips for answering and asking the right questions and making a strong positive first impression.

What is a Panel Interview?

Before we jump into the gist, a panel interview is a conversation with multiple interviewers, usually from different teams or departments. It’s efficient for them, a little nerve-wracking for you, but a great way to show off your skills to a crowd and prove that you’re the best fit for the job.

Panel interviews are super common for many positions. Google and Amazon do them for tech and project management roles. Federal roles in fire service or police also demand them.

In general, companies opt to do panel interviews to:

• Streamline the hiring process. It’s more time-effective to invite all hiring managers once, rather than coordinate schedules multiple times for different candidates.

• Avoid bias. Each panel interviewer brings a different perspective, thus eliminating the odds of favoritism or, on the contrary, unfair treatment.

• Provide the candidate with cultural insights. Usually, the people on the panel are those who will have some sort of relationship with the employee once hired. And it gives you a better idea of interpersonal dynamics and workplace culture.

What to Expect from a Panel Interview?

A standard panel interview involves a series of questions, typically structured around your general competencies, motivation for the job, past experience, and personal attributes.

Different stakeholders will typically lead a questioning segment.  An HR person may ask culture-fit questions. Your direct supervisor or peers will pose more role-specific ones to evaluate your skill set. The job of a panel is to get as complete a “picture” of you as possible.

Some companies may also ask questions directly related to their organizational values. For example, Amazon asks all candidates to review their Leadership Principles and frame their responses in accordance with these. Google panel interviewers, on the other hand, tend to focus more on hard skills and often ask candidates various situational and behavioral interview questions.

How to Prepare for a Panel Interview

Preparing for a panel interview is all about doing the company research to better anticipate the questions and prepare relevant examples for contextualizing your skills and past work experiences.

Learn Who Will Be on the Panel

Ask the hiring manager, who’ll be present on your panel. Then research the interviewers’ position in the company and background.

First of all, putting a face to the name helps you avoid communication mishaps during the panel (like mispronouncing someone’s name or misjudging their title). Secondly, the more you know about an interviewer—the better rapport you can build. You might find that you have a shared Alma mater or professional connection through work in the same company. This can give you leverage.

Use the STAR Interview Method

The STAR method is your storytelling secret weapon for panel interviews. Short for Situation, Task, Action, or Result, it helps you frame your answers so they’re clear, concise, and packed with impact. Think of it as turning “I worked on some project” into “I led a cross-border product launch campaign that boosted sales by 30%.”

With multiple people firing off questions, it’s easy to lose your audience. STAR keeps you grounded. When answering a question, start with the Situation (set the scene), explain the Task (your role), dive into the Action (what you did), and land the Result (why it rocked).

Bonus points if you tailor your example to each panelist’s area of interest—it shows you’re dialed in and adaptable.

Demonstrate a Range of Skills

Many candidates get hung up during interviews because they feel that their experience from their current employer must match all the requirements of the new one to a dot. But that’s far from being the case.

Hard skills can be taught—and many employers are willing to invest in this area. Soft skills—not as much. It’s hard to rewire someone’s personality in a day and turn a person from an efficient solo contributor to an A-level team player. So whenever you feel that you lack certain experience, shift the focus to your interpersonal skills like strong communication, negotiation, or problem-solving abilities.

Another panel interview tip? Refer to your transferable skills whenever you lack first-hand resume expertise. Say the panel is asking you some firefighting interview questions. Rather than getting flustered because you’ve just got out of the academy, you can give answers in the context of other jobs, military deployments, or even volunteering activities. For example, if you’re asked something like “How would you respond to conflicting orders on the scene?”, you can give a compelling example even from your personal life.

Do Inject a Bit of Personality

The purpose of a panel interview is to provide candidates with a glimpse of the company’s culture and workplace dynamics. And your goal is to show that you’ll be a good culture fit or a culture-add aka someone who complements existing personalities.

So it pays to be authentic during the panel interview. Share stories that showcase your personal values, and the way you approach challenges and deal with setbacks. If it feels appropriate inject some humor (think a lighthearted comment, not a stand-up comedy routine).

And don’t forget body language—it speaks volumes. Maintain eye contact with each panelist, smile, and use open gestures to convey confidence and warmth.

Common Panel Interview Questions and Sample Answers for Candidates

Preparation for a panel interview includes anticipating the questions that will be asked and solid answers for each. Think about the different points you want to cover and think about various examples and quick stories to bring up (and avoid repetition from earlier interview rounds).

Here’s your starter list of panel interview questions to practice.

1. Can You Please Introduce Yourself?

This “softball”  question is often asked to put you at ease. But there is another purpose too. The panel wants to see if you can succinctly communicate who you are and what value you may bring to the table.

Many applicants make the mistake of reciting their resume—information the panel has already read. Instead, provide a brief answer with some career and not-too-personal highlights.

Sample Answer:

“My name is Todd. My background includes more than a decade of experience in research and development. My focus has been on the aviation sector, and I hold patents on three aerospace products. I’m also a licensed pilot, and regularly volunteer my time flying medical supplies to developing nations.”

Need more tips? Read our post about answering the “Tell me about yourself” interview question.

2. Can You Tell Me About Your Most Notable Accomplishments?

Again, this is a relatively standard “opener”, prompting you to discuss and contextualize some aspects of your career. Essentially, the panel wants to understand what you consider to be important for your role and whether your expertise will be a “match” for the position.

How do you come up with good examples and mention-worthy accomplishments? McKinsey suggests making a lineup of stories, similar to a highlights reel “professional accomplishments that represent who I am and energize me every time I talk about them”.

Below is a sample answer for a recent graduate, employing this technique.

Sample Answer:

“The most notable accomplishments that are related to my career began in college. There I joined the campus Future Business Leaders of America chapter and ultimately became its president. Under my leadership, the chapter grew from approximately 50 to 200 by the time I graduated. During that time, I also secured a highly competitive internship with XYZ corporation which further helped me hone my skills in organizational management and land an executive assistant role with Acme Inc.”

3. Please provide an example of a difficult problem you have solved.

This question is known as a “process” one. The panel wants to understand how you will approach problems you may face on the job and assess your analytics skills.

Sample Answer:

“When I began my position as sales manager with XYZ corporation, I inherited a team of sales staff, most of whom had been in their positions for quite some time. What I noticed right away were two things: a lack of enthusiasm and energy, and a group of people all working as individuals, not as members of a team. I created a team-building initiative — an offsite workshop + weekly team retrospectives — that led to better cohesion”

Check out more common problem-solving interview questions to prepare even better!

4. Why are you interested in this role?

This is one of the panel interview questions that can be a bit tricky. The temptation is to talk about yourself and your goals and ambitions. But what the panel really wants to see is what value you can bring to the organization.

Sample Answer:

“Over the years, I have developed leadership and managerial skills that have proved valuable to two companies I have worked for. I was interested to read your recent press release that you are planning an expansion into two more states, and that will mean more sales staff and sales management personnel. Since I have deep familiarity with the California market and a proven track record of successful go-to-market launches, I felt compelled to apply ”

For more tips also check our post about how to answer the “Why you are interested in this position?” interview question or watch this video:

5. How would you describe your ideal work environment?

The panel is looking for an answer that will show you will be a “fit” for their culture. Never go into your panel interview without having done enough research on the company to understand its culture.

Sample Answer:

 “I thrive in a collaborative, participatory environment – one in which each employee is considered a valuable member of the organization. Personally, I also prefer and practice servant leadership style.”

6. Do you have any managerial or supervisory experience?

The panel may already know that you do or do not have formal managerial experience. Yet, many would like to obtain extra context about your management style and approaches. Or learn about any informal supervisory experiences you’ve developed, as well as your overall leadership skills.

Sample Answer:

“ While I don’t have any on-the-job managerial experience, I do have some background that relates. While in college, I was the editor of the student newspaper. In that role, I supervised a staff of seven, delegating assignments, editing their contributions, and holding staff meetings.”

Best Questions to Ask an Interview Panel

Often, at the close of a panel interview, you may be asked if there is anything else you would like the panel to know about you. Here, you will want to speak to anything important that you don’t think was covered well as you answered the questions. For example, you may want to address an employment gap on your resume or state what you’d want to accomplish in the first 30 days after being hired.

Afterward, you’d be likely given some more room to also ask your set of follow-up questions. Don’t skimp on this as this is your opportunity to learn more about the working environment and the role itself to make an informed decision.

Here are several very good questions to ask an interview panel:

1. What makes people successful in this role?
2. What’s the typical career path for someone in this position?
3. What do you like most about working here?
4. Could you name the most challenging parts of this role?
5. How do you measure success in this position?
6. How does the team handle conflict or differing opinions?
7. What’s the company’s stance on work-life balance?
8. How does this role interact with other departments or teams?

Send Final Tip: Send a Thank You Email after Panel Interview

A follow-up email after an interview is a must-do. Over three-quarters of HRs take thank-you notes into account when ranking candidates post-interviews. Send a short, sweet note to the panel to thank them for their time and consideration.

Here’s a thank you email template you can use after your panel interview:

FAQs about Panel Interviews

Here are some of the most common questions you may have about panel interviews:

1. How do you stand out in a panel interview?

There are several things you can do. When you tell stories or give examples, make sure they are engaging and interesting. Anecdotes are always good. Make sure that you can address each panel member by name. Add some appropriate humor, make eye contact, smile, and show enthusiasm as you speak about your skills and talents and about the position that is open.

2. How do you introduce yourself in a panel interview?

The panel will know your name, and they obviously know you are arriving. What will usually happen is that each panel member will introduce themselves to you. You will probably introduce yourself by answering the first question – tell us about yourself. Here is where your elevator pitch comes in.

3. Is the panel interview the last interview?

Not necessarily. The panel process may be designed to narrow the candidate field down to two to three finalists that will be sent forward to a higher authority for final interview and selection.

4. How long should a panel interview last?

Most are scheduled for about an hour, but they may be less or slightly longer. Don’t stress about the timing. The panel will moderate your replies and adjust the pace of the interview if they expect overruns. Just go with the proposed flow.

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