Interviewing with other candidates at the same time

[Mtru6]

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I was told that our interview would have 4-5 other candidates along with 2-3 faculty members. For those who have interviewed along side other candidates would you please share your experience in how the interview went? A couple questions I have, was the interview cut throat between the candidates in trying to out do the other? Were you all asked the same questions? Do you think they are trying to test the chemistry between possible candidates? And lastly, do you have any advice for interviewing with other candidates that might not be applicable to a solo interview and just overall, how was your experience? Thanks!

 

[redrose424]

I was told that our interview would have 4-5 other candidates along with 2-3 faculty members. For those who have interviewed along side other candidates would you please share your experience in how the interview went? A couple questions I have, was the interview cut throat between the candidates in trying to out do the other? Were you all asked the same questions? Do you think they are trying to test the chemistry between possible candidates? And lastly, do you have any advice for interviewing with other candidates that might not be applicable to a solo interview and just overall, how was your experience? Thanks!

I did an interview with other candidates at Mercer. We were not asked to answer questions individually, instead, they gave us two case studies and we decided how to answer them as a group. The interviewers just observed us and I'm sure took notes. It was not cutthroat, in fact, the other people I interviewed were pretty quiet (I ended up being the pseudo leader of the group). I thought it was easier than an individual interview since there were more people to bounce ideas off of and it was pretty relaxed, although if you don't take the reins you might get overlooked.

 

[otherwise]

I had a group interview, 4 candidates and 3 faculty. There was an initial group exercise, I assume to test our teamwork skills and get an idea of the chemistry. Then each of the faculty took turns asking questions, each candidate answered every question. Since the questions were all about personal things or personality assessments there was no competition between each other. At first I was terrified of the group interview, but it ended up being an interesting experience.
I would advise you not to dominate the groups. If you take control and lead it is fine, but do not over power other people's input.