Everything you need to know about a group interview

Different from an individual interview, from a classic case study and even from group projects carried out during studies, group interviews can be disconcerting. We tell you how to shine, while keeping some team spirit. 

Standing out is a necessity

The explicit aim of the group interview is to make you work as a team, which means pooling your skills while showing that you are the most suitable for the job. Only a tiny minority of candidates are selected in the end, so you might as well be one of them. 

It is imperative to keep in mind that recruiters only evaluate performance. As in maths, the result is just as important as the methodology, so it is not advisable to simply “delegate” the difficult tasks to your colleagues. You are being watched and evaluated from start to finish - Big Brother is watching you. So, get involved, be proactive and don't just follow the others. 

Finding the right balance 

Standing out is a necessity, but it's not easy. If you try too hard to be seen by recruiters, you run the risk of monopolising the floor or the attention without really taking advantage of the team dynamics and missing out on expectations. You must therefore be assertive but also listen. Open up to exchange while keeping in mind that the relevance of your own point of view must play in your favour. In short, it's a subtle balancing action. 

Without falling into caricature, recruiters are looking for “a good fit”, which is someone who has the skills for the job as much as a colleague you enjoy working with. During this test, you will want to work with some candidates, while others may give you hives. This is when you need to be professional: your mindset towards the group should be to solve the given issue as efficiently as possible and to maximise the product of your cooperation. In short, if there is a common ground, so much the better, but if not, take a deep breath and put all your energy into solving the given problem. 

Carrying a conviction on the subject 

Understanding the subject is an important and easy thing to do on your side. In order to be able to improvise, a business leader, a politician or even an actor must know his/her subject inside out. The same goes for you, de facto. Since you will have to improvise with your group, thorough preparation must be carried out beforehand. Learn about the company, sector, current trends, and market developments. 

The only way to develop legitimate leadership within the group is to be a force of proposal in a clever way - as opposed to a talkative proactivity which goal will be to get noticed at all costs. You must therefore carry a conviction. And this will come out of your previous knowledge of the subject and your confrontation with the topic tackled during the interview. 

Share your conviction with the others. If it is based on solid arguments, it will enrich the group's dynamics. If it is sincere, you can share it without fearing that others may try to appropriate your ideas, and you will defend them better than they would. 

Identifying the strengths of the group and optimising the division of tasks

Understanding the topic is obviously not enough. After interacting with the other candidates, be clear-headed. It is not always a good strategy to try to take the lead at all costs. The most important thing is to identify your team's inherent strengths. Assign the maths subjects to the maths person, the economic modelling to the business person and the choice of how to communicate them to the one who likes literature. It sounds obvious, but in situ, candidates are often tempted to assign topics to each other based on other subjective criteria (“the most interesting topic”, “what is the most likely to impress the recruiters”, etc.), at the expense of the group dynamics. Yet, it is by dealing with a subject on which you are competent, whatever it may be, that you will maximise your chances of coming up with relevant ideas, and therefore, of getting noticed. 

Playing as a team while targeting your own success 

When presenting your ideas, divide the speaking time fairly. Recruiters have been watching you since the preparatory phase, but the presentation remains the main window of opportunity to prove yourself. After pooling your knowledge on the subject and structuring the issue, define who is going to speak about what. 

The presentation of your ideas is not meant to be a Gospel, but a series of well-articulated solos, which means listening, questioning your ideas and remaining confident in your convictions. It also means valuing the good ideas of others. A recruiter knows better than anyone that it is just as important to know how to recognise and surround yourself with competent people as it is to be competent yourself. 

Therefore, to stand out, you need to find the right balance. You need to be tactful and assertive; you need to be a good listener and at the same time, be able to assert yourself in a team. Your team has to win - that goes without saying - but you must receive the Golden Ball trophy.