# Panel Interview Tips: How to Prepare and What to Do in the Room > Find out who's on the panel and what each person cares about, then prepare an example for each of their concerns. In the room, answer the person who asked but include everyone, keep answers short, and send each panelist their own thank-you note. Canonical: https://knowtheroom.ai/guides/panel-interview-tips/ Published by the Know the Room team (https://knowtheroom.ai/authors/know-the-room-team/). Updated 2026-10-24. ## Key takeaways - A panel interview is one interview with several interviewers at once, often from different teams. - Before a panel interview, find out who is on the panel and prepare an example for each panelist's likely concern. - In a panel interview, answer the person who asked but include everyone, and keep each answer short. - Video panel interviews follow the same rules, with extra care to look at the camera and address people by name. - Send each panelist their own short thank-you note after a panel interview. ## What is a panel interview? A panel interview is one conversation with several interviewers at once, usually three to five. For marketing roles that often means the hiring manager, a peer, someone from a partner team such as sales or product, and sometimes HR. Panels save the company time and let interviewers compare notes on the same answers. For you, it means more people to read and less time per question. Facing a row of interviewers can feel daunting, but with a little prep on each person it becomes several shorter conversations rather than one big test. ## How to prepare for a panel interview Preparation for a panel is mostly about the people. 1. **Get the names and titles.** Ask the recruiter who will be on the panel and whether anyone is leading it. 2. **Work out what each person cares about.** A sales leader wants to know you'll help them hit targets. A product marketer cares how you'd work on launches. Finance cares how you'd show return on spend. 3. **Prepare one example for each person.** A story that speaks to their concern, with a result. 4. **Prepare one question for each person.** It shows you thought about their part of the business. 5. **Practice short answers.** Aim for about two minutes. With four people, long answers eat the time for everyone else's questions. ```text Panelist: [Name, title] What they care about: [their likely concern] My example: [situation, what I did, result] My question for them: [one question about their work] ``` Keep your examples as notes, not scripts, and tell them in your own words; a panel compares impressions afterward, and what sticks is a candidate who sounded like a real person. Research the company itself the same way you would for any round: see [how to research a company before an interview](/guides/how-to-research-a-company-before-an-interview/). ## What to do in the room Answer the person who asked, but bring the others in. - **Greet everyone by name** at the start, and write the names down in seating order. - **Make eye contact with the asker first**, then glance around the panel as you go, and come back to the asker to finish. - **Connect your answers to other panelists.** "That's also relevant to what you'd need from marketing, [Name]." - **Spread your attention, not just toward the most senior person.** Everyone on the panel usually has a say. - **Pause before answering.** It's fine to take a few seconds; it reads as thoughtful. - **If two people disagree**, acknowledge both points of view before giving yours. On video, look at the camera when you speak and use names more than you would in person, since it's harder to tell who you're addressing. ## Common panel interview questions Panels ask the same kinds of questions as other rounds, split by person. Expect the hiring manager to ask about strategy and results, peers to ask how you collaborate, and partner teams to ask how you'd work with them. See [second interview questions](/guides/second-interview-questions/) for the common ones in later rounds and how to answer them. ## How to finish a panel interview Use your questions, thank everyone and ask about next steps. ```text Thank you all for your time. I've enjoyed hearing about [one thing from the conversation]. Could you tell me what the next steps look like and when I might hear? ``` Then send each panelist a separate thank-you note the same day, each picking up on something they said. The [thank-you email](/guides/thank-you-email-after-interview/) guide has a panel template. ## FAQ ### How long is a panel interview? Usually 45 to 90 minutes. Ask the recruiter so you can pace your answers. ### Who should I look at when answering? Start and finish with the person who asked, and look around the panel while you talk. ### What if a panelist seems uninterested? Keep going and include them anyway. People take notes, check messages or think differently; it rarely means what it looks like. ### Do I need a separate thank-you note for each panelist? Yes. Make each one different, because panels often compare notes. ### How do you handle a video panel interview? Test your setup, look at the camera rather than the faces on screen when you answer, and use people's names so each panelist knows when you're speaking to them. Keep a short note of who's who next to your screen. Our [video interview tips](/guides/video-interview-tips/) cover the setup in detail. ### What is a peer panel interview? It's a panel made up of people at your level, or the people you'd work alongside, rather than your future managers. They're judging whether they'd want to work with you day to day, so talk about how you collaborate, hand off work and handle disagreement, and ask them what a normal week looks like. ## More on Interview rounds - [How to prepare for an interview](https://knowtheroom.ai/guides/how-to-prepare-for-an-interview.md) - [How to research a company before an interview](https://knowtheroom.ai/guides/how-to-research-a-company-before-an-interview.md) - [Phone screen interview questions](https://knowtheroom.ai/guides/phone-screen-interview-questions.md) - [Video interview tips](https://knowtheroom.ai/guides/video-interview-tips.md) - [Group interview questions](https://knowtheroom.ai/guides/group-interview-questions.md) - [Second interview questions](https://knowtheroom.ai/guides/second-interview-questions.md) - [Marketing case study presentation](https://knowtheroom.ai/guides/marketing-case-study-presentation.md) - [Marketing take-home assignment](https://knowtheroom.ai/guides/marketing-take-home-assignment.md) - [Mock interview questions](https://knowtheroom.ai/guides/mock-interview-questions.md) - [What to wear to an interview](https://knowtheroom.ai/guides/what-to-wear-to-an-interview.md)