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Group Interview

How to Stand Out in a Group Interview

Interviewing for a job is nerve-wracking enough. It’s hard enough to gauge the culture and guess how the other person is responding to what you’re saying (and how you’re delivering it). Just imagine adding two or three other candidates into the mix. It requires a subtle balance. Sure, you want to show that you are a team player, but you also want to shine as an individual. Let’s face it: You’ve been trained to crush the competition, not collaborate with them. Yes, a group interview requires an entirely new skill set: Poise, inclusiveness, and good ol’ fashioned political savvy. And those traits are difficult to fake – and sometimes take a lifetime to master.

Make no mistake: Group interviews aren’t just for filtering our narcissists and ninnies. Here, the panel can identify influencers and leaders, along with your ability to think on your feet (and apply those increasingly-valuable interpersonal skills). And those are exactly the same types of abilities that are treasured by business school adcoms. Accordingly, you’ll find programs like Wharton and Ross using group dynamics in everything from cases or team projects.

So how do you come across as the right way in a group setting? In a recent piece with MBA.com, Horacio M. Borromeo, Dean of the Washington SyCip Graduate School of Business at the Asian Institute of Management, shared ten strategies for checking getting the panel’s attention (the right way). Here are some Borromeo’s best points:

“Don’t show off how much you know: Your GMAT results already tell us whether you can calculate the time it takes two trains traveling at different speeds from different directions departing at different times to converge at a given point. The interview is for showing how well you think, speak, and listen.”

“Show good manners: When the group discussion starts, it’s invariably a race to see who gets to speak first. Candidates may think they’re displaying leadership by talking first, fastest, and loudest. While it may look like initiative, it may also seem like bullying, arrogance, or disregard for courtesy and good manners. So while you might think you are looking like a take-charge person, your aggressivenessmay be a turn-off to the interviewer.”

“Demonstrate that you are a leader: Leadership traits are important, interviewers realize that during a group discussion, it’s hard to demonstrate that you have it. Remember that leadership does not mean dominance. It does not mean hogging the limelight. Leadership means knowing how to involve the other members of the discussion. Interviewers understand that leaders are also team players and good listeners. If you haven’t been listening to the others, it will be obvious in what you say and how you say it.”

“Appearance counts: When interviewing candidates for our MBA, the first thing we want to see is whether two years down the road you can make a good first impression with a recruiter, and presentation counts a lot toward making that first impression. Look fresh. Dress as if you’re applying for an investment-banking job in New York or Singapore. Maybe get a haircut, make sure you present yourself professionally. Women should go for an “executive” look. Skirt or pants, blazer over white blouse, always works.”

For additional advice from Borromeo, click on the MBA.com link below.

DON’T MISS: HOW TO PREP FOR AN MBA INTERVIEW

Source: MBA.com

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