Group Interviews

[YUrocks!]

Has anyone out there ever used or participated in a group interview as part of the camp hiring process? We are trying a carousel interview this year for hiring our staff (where they rotate through stations in groups) and I am curious to hear of other people's experiences with this type of interview format

[laurathistle]

I was interviewed for a job once (not one at camp) where it was group interview.
I didn't know this beforehand and it really panicked me as I had never done anything like that before. It put me off my stride for the whole interview.

I was very aware that there were people in my group who were not participating and I took it upon myself to try and get them to participate. I think I did, but by doing this didn't put my own ideas across and so didn't really participate!

I didn't get the job which I knew I was more than capable of doing and was really shocked by the people who were choosen (i.e the ones I had tried to involve more!)

I sound really bitter there!
I think had I known in advance what the set up was going to be I would have been better prepared.

[c3divers]

imo, while group intervies are good if you are short on time or there are alot of people to be interviewed - it is hard to get the jist of how people are while in a group. It does not really matter the size - if a person is shy around others they do not know, they will not look good in a group interview. I used to do group interviews for my job and it was really hard to tell what peoples personalities were like. You can get some that will agree but not put any constructive input and you can get some that will just sit there unless you ask them a specific question - then there are those that if asked will not speak up loud enough because they are afraid to be embarrased.

Just my opinion :jumping:

[CAMPFRIEND]

I am a big fan of group interviews. I think that it gives you a chance to see how counselors will act around others as well as if they speak up or are quite. After the group interview we meet the staff 1-0n-1 to see if there is anything we missed or why they had problems in the group. If you can jump in with a group of people you don’t know how are you going to be with a group of kids? Camp is all about just getting it done!

[YUrocks!]

imo, while group intervies are good if you are short on time or there are alot of people to be interviewed - it is hard to get the jist of how people are while in a group. It does not really matter the size - if a person is shy around others they do not know, they will not look good in a group interview. I used to do group interviews for my job and it was really hard to tell what peoples personalities were like. You can get some that will agree but not put any constructive input and you can get some that will just sit there unless you ask them a specific question - then there are those that if asked will not speak up loud enough because they are afraid to be embarrased.

Just my opinion :jumping:

Hi C
I agree with you that the quiet people can definitely be overlooked. We're building in ways to asses quieter people and the group interview is just part of a mutli step process.

I find it interesting tht you believe that you can't get to know people's personalities through group interviews. Can you tell me a little bit more about what types of activities were done in your experience? In my past experience we do group interaction activities (ie initiatives, cooperative games with debriefs) and I found it easier to get to know people's personalities then the traditional sit across a table and ask questions.

Can you tell me more about the group interviews that you used to do for your job?

Thanks
Susan

[CAMPFRIEND]

I am not sure who you are asking but we do camp games and songs. If they can't do them now how are they going to do them later.. I know it's crazy and we might miss some, but that is why we meet them all 1-0n-1 as well.. Just do what they would need to do at camp.

[c3divers]

Susan,

Our group interviews were all panel interviews. We had 5-6 interviewies and 3 interviewers.

We asked questions, waited for a response. Sometimes we singled out the questions. We looked at all resumes before hand and had them on hand for reference.

When we did scenario questions and we got a lot of, "that's how I was going to answer" answers.

Like I said this was for a company - not Camp.

Collene

[SWTexan]

I have used group interviews when hiring resident assistants (which is much like hiring camp staff) and it works great. The "group process" was done first, and was a series of three teambuilding and problem solving activities that they had to complete. We would observe them during the process and decide which ones we wanted to interview for our individual staffs. (We had about 150 RAs on 18 staffs) Then, we would divide them up and do individual interviews afterward.

In the camp setting, the closest thing to a group interview that I've been involved with is that one residential camp I worked at would hire everyone based on individual interviews, and then use the activities of training week to make final determinations on activity and cabin assignments based on interaction. We would know where "key" staff were going, and then build out the rest of their activity departments and cabin staffs around personalities.

[jgeorgie33]

IMO, group interviews are very unprofessional.