How To Ace The Panel Interview

Here’s the scenario: You decided to apply for a new role, and out of the many people who applied for that promotional opportunity you find yourself selected to show them your stuff during an in-person panel interview. You notice as you book your interview there are nine potential spots which means eight others (who are likely similarly qualified) will also be vamping for the single space at their agency. 

How do you ensure you nail the interview?  

Practice 

…but not too much practice. If you’re too rehearsed, it may be tough to respond organically in the moment. 

I recommend speaking out loud to your friends, to a mentor, or to your partner.  That way, your first time describing your most complex project isn’t at a table of strangers rating you.  

You will always be asked two questions: 

• Tell us about yourself/Tell us how your education & experience prepared you for this role; and  
• Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?  

Practice! These! Questions! But don’t practice them to the point that it sounds like you are reading line-for-line from the Encyclopedia Brittanica. You are a dynamic and unique individual who has a passion for this role, so tell them about yourself in a way helps them picture you as their next employee.  

Don’t forget, you’re interviewing the agency. If the panelists are internal, then they are the people who you’ll spend more time with than practically anyone else in your life. It’s imperative you investigate if you’d even enjoy their company. Make sure you come prepared with a good “dismount” (your answer to the second question above) and ask them questions if you have time. This can get tricky if the panel is external, but it’s a good opportunity to show you can talk to people. I like to ask, “if you were hiring for this role, what is one thing you’d be looking for in the candidates?” I recently served on a panel and saw an applicant ask a question like this and then use that opportunity to tell them how they fit that mold. Brilliant!  

Research  

Know what you’re getting into. 

You probably read the brochure several weeks ago when you decided to apply, but it’s always a good idea to reacquaint yourself with it the day before or the morning before your interview. The brochure will tell you specifically who they’d like to hire for the role, and it is not illegal to tell them which of those targeted attributes you possess. But you must be honest about how you meet that criteria. If they are looking for a high-energy go-getter and you are an even-keeled steady, be honest about that – this is sometimes what we’re talking about when we’re talking about “fit”.  

I have a friend whose agency asks every applicant a specific question about their City values, which are everywhere on their website. The question is along the lines of “Tell us which of our values resonate with you and why”. It helps the agency both check the applicant’s “fit” and is a way to see if they even bothered researching the agency. At a minimum, you should check council priorities and read the budget summary. It’s also smart to check if the division you’re applying for has a work plan. 

Managing Anxiety 

Panel interviews are notoriously nerve-wracking.  You’ll face multiple people, usually who you don’t know – or worse, people who you DO know! They’ll ask you questions and jot down notes about your demeanor, your answers, their perception of how you’d fit at an agency they may not even work at. The process is daunting at best, and it can feel like the weight of the world on your shoulders if you’re out of work or in a tough spot in your current job and could really use a fresh start.  

When I served as the lead recruiter for an agency, I used to tell visibly nervous candidates in the lobby that “only sociopaths don’t get nervous for interviews”. That usually helped them reframe their anxiety as excitement for the opportunity. I’d tell them who they’d be meeting with, how much time they had, how many questions they’d be answering, and I’d let them ask me any questions they had. I tried to spend several minutes with them just getting them into the ease of a conversation so they could show up as their best selves for the panel. There is almost always a friendly face at an agency – sometimes an external recruiter – whose job it is to get you settled and send you off to show your stuff.  

Maybe the best anti-anxiety trick is to GET THERE EARLY. Use that lobby time to breathe, get some water, and shift into a good headspace. Running late sets you up to run in there with a wild, disorganized energy and the panel will absolutely pick up on that. Remind yourself why you’re there, what excited you about the job and picture your best friend hyping you up. It’s showtime!  

Call in Reinforcement 

Most people find selling themselves in an interview to be a very hard needle to thread: how do I sound confident without sounding cocky? How do I project confidence without seeming like a dictator?  

The solution to this challenge is to try to see yourself through the eyes of others. Ask your friends and mentors what your superpower is (“if you had to define my greatest asset, what would it be?”) and use that to craft answers about who you are.  

Hiring a coach for a few sessions to prepare for your interview can also give you the leg up when eight other people are jockeying for the role of your dreams.