The 5 Types of Interview Questions You'll Be Asked In a Panel Interview
Nikki Paterson 
Want to know how to answer your interview questions? Then start with the different types of interview questions and why they're asking them.
Knowing the different types of job interview questions you'll be asked in a panel interview informs the type of research you'll need to do to be across every question in your interview answers.
Panel interviews are different from general employment interviews.
Panel interviews tend to be more like a verbal exam than a conversation about your experience and history.
For a start, the tend to be mostly one-way; you'll do most of the talking and there won't be much opportunity to ask the panel any questions.
They also tend to be quite formal, very structured and timed.
So given that it's quite a rigid process with tough competition, it's important to be across all of the different types of questions that you'll be asked so you know exactly what to research and how to get prepared.
Some people walk into an interview with a heap of knowledge about the organisation, the industry and the technical aspects of the job, prepared to dazzle the panel with the understanding of the role, but then get stumped when they're asked a hypothetical question about how they would respond to a situation.
The panel want to fully assess how you would perform in the role and if you're the best candidate for the job so they'll ask a variety of question types to best assess this.
Panel interview questions tend to be across 5 categories:
- Behavioural
- Hypothetical
- Weakness
- Knowledge
- Dilemma
Let's take a look at each of these.
1. Behavioural Questions
Behavioural questions ask you to describe a time you have behaved in a certain way.
"Tell us about a time when you resolved a conflict"
"Tell us about a time when you used teamwork to achieve a goal"
Behavioural questions are useful for the panel because past behaviour is a reliable predictor of future performance. If you've done it in the past, chances are you can do it again in the future.
The best way to prepare for behavioural questions is to have a BANK of experiences and examples ready to go. Go over the position description and information about the organisation and the role and determine the types of skills and characteristics they're likely to try and assess. Then go over your employment, volunteer and personal history and mine for times when you've demonstrated these skills and characteristics.
Have all of these examples well thought out and ready to go.
2. Hypothetical Questions
Hypothetical questions are future-state questions; They pose a situation or scenario and ask you how you would behave in that situation.
"What would you do if your manager asked you to do something you disagreed with?"
"How would you persuade someone in your team to see your point of view?"
Hypothetical questions are hidden ninja-questions because they go beyond assessing the action you would take and are also used by the panel to assess your ability to think quickly; to critically assess a situation, apply existing knowledge, use your problem solving skills, assess your values and your ability to articulate your decision.
Hypothetical questions are often related to decision making and problem solving. So to prepare for these questions consider:
- What problem areas are common in the industry and how would you go about solving them?
- What decisions would you be faced with as a new hire in this field?
Run through a heap of scenarios and consider how you'd respond to each.
It's also worth considering the organisation's values here and make sure your responses reflect these.
3. Weakness Questions
We're seeing a trend emerging for questions that require some potential uncomfortable honesty in your response.
Questions around:
- Your weaknesses
- A time you failed
- How you contributed to a problem
- A personality flaw
"What is your biggest weakness?"
"Tell us about a time you failed, what you could have done differently and what you learned as a result"
Most people's natural inclination is to avoid this question; they downplay the weakness, minimise their involvement in the mishap or worse, blame others for the failing. You may think that this is a clever way to dodge an awkward question but unfortunately this approach actually makes you look bad.
Not only does downplaying your response make you look bad, it's also a missed opportunity to showcase some sought after skills.
Questions about your weaknesses or a failing is an opportunity to showcase the following desired skills:
- Self-awareness,
- Self-reflection,
- Self-development,
- Emotional intelligence,
- Critical thinking,
- Problem solving,
- Negotiation, and
- Problem solving skills
For more information on how to tackle questions about your weaknesses, check out our YouTube video "What's Your Greatest Weakness?" And How To Answer This Interview Question.
4. Knowledge Questions
Knowledge questions are useful for the panel because they want to know if you have the expertise and knowledge to do the job. They cover questions about any technical aspect of the job, the role itself and the organisation.
"What's your understanding of XYZ software and it's application in the role?"
"What's your understanding of the day-to-day tasks of the role?"
"What do you think you'll find most challenging about this role?"
When researching for knowledge questions, cast your net wide and consider all of the different types of knowledge involved.
Consider:
- Applicable policy, procedure, legislation
- The technical knowledge or skills you need to know to perform the role
- The 'soft' and 'hard' skills required to do the job
- How the role you're applying for functions within the organisation - where does it sit, what other departments does it co-ordinate with?
- The skills, experience and characteristics required to do the job
- The organisation's mission and values
Knowledge based questions are very often around addressing an issue the organisation is experiencing or a deficiency they've had in the past so to help you focus your research consider researching the following:
- Industry trends
- Topical issues that effect the organisation or industry
- Current issues within the industry
- Impending changes within the industry or organisation
- Shortcomings of the organisation or industry
For example, if the organisation you're applying to has been in the media for shortcomings with their compliance, it's logical that they'll be trying to address this and there may be a compliance-based question in your interview.
Dilemma Questions
Dilemma type questions are arguably the 'ickiest' of all questions - they can feel like a bit of a set up. There's rarely a 'perfect' answer, there's no happy ever after outcome for all involved.
Dilemma type questions are often around difficult decision making and can quite often feature an ethical or integrity component and can sometimes have a behavioural element.
They're questions like:
"What would you do if a supervisor asked you to misrepresent information?"
"Tell us about a time you faced an ethical dilemma and what you did".
"Tell us about the most difficult decision you've had to make and how you made the decision"
So when preparing for dilemma questions consider:
- What ethical or integrity-based issues are common in this industry?
- What type of difficult decisions am I likely to have to make in this role?
- What are the organisation values?
- Is there policy or legislation that applies to this industry?
- What are the company processes or Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)?
It's important when responding to dilemma questions that you have a clear understanding of the purpose of the question. If it's an ethical dilemma question, it's easy to assume that the purpose of the question is to see if you're ethical. But...think on that for a second. If someone is truly unethical, they'd just lie and give the ethically correct answer.
The real purpose of dilemma questions is to test your:
- decision making skills
- problem solving skills
- critical thinking
- understanding of company policy
- understanding of company values and culture and how you'd be expected to behave
So, "I'd report it to my supervisor" is not a satisfactory answer. Yes, this shows that you understand something in the scenario is wrong but it does not tell the panel anything about the qualities they're trying to assess.
With dilemma questions you need to take a clear course of action and justify your actions. There's no wishy-washy fence sitting with dilemma questions (that's why they're icky).
If you need step-by-step help building and structuring your interview responses and preparing and strategising for your interview, check out our online panel interview training here.
So In Summary
Panel interview questions tend to be across 5 different categories:
1. Behavioural - these ask about your past behaviours and attitudes
2. Hypothetical - these ask about how you would act in a future situation
3. Weakness - these questions ask you to self-identify your shortcomings and failings
4. Knowledge - these ask about your understanding of the role, tasks, organisation and industry
5. Dilemma - these questions are focussed on difficult decision making and your ethical orientation
Knowing the different type of interview questions you'll be asked helps to inform the type of research you do. Most people tend to overly-focus on preparing for knowledge based questions but these will usually only form a part, and sometimes a small part, of the interview questIons. Yes, knowledge based research is crucial, it forms the basis of almost all of your responses but don't leave it there.
Interestingly, the remaining 4 categories of questions - behavioural, hypothetical, weakness and dilemma, actually focus on you and your experience, skills and actions. By putting forethought into these areas and how they align to the role and the organisation you're applying to, will help to show the panel that you're the best candidate for the position.
Preparing to answer all the different types of behavioural questions helps you to deliver well thought out answers in a professional manner that will put you ahead of your competition.
Want more interview tips & advice? Follow our Facebook page - Get That Job