How to Prepare for a Panel Interview

Panel interviews add a layer of complexity: multiple personalities, multiple sets of questions, and the challenge of engaging everyone in the room.

Get names and roles in advance if possible

Knowing who's who lets you tailor parts of your answers to their specific interests.

Make eye contact with everyone, not just who asked

Address your answer to the whole panel, glancing at each person, even when responding to one person's question.

Take a beat before answering

A short pause to organize your thoughts is completely normal and reads as thoughtful, not slow.

Send a follow-up to each panelist

If you have everyone's contact info, a brief individual thank-you goes further than one group email.