Job candidate critiques another candidate during a group-style interview: ‘I was completely derailed for the next 20 minutes’

• Have you ever participated in a group interview for a job? What was your experience like? Did you feel like you were constantly being compared to other candidates in real time? If you said yes, that's because you were.

  The sole purpose of group interviews is to compare candidates simultaneously, and that's the truth. Whoever says it's for some other experimental reason is lying to you. Group interviews are, at best, humiliation rituals. You can plan your answers and scenarios as much as you want… Another candidate will do everything in their power to make you look like the less desirable candidate. Unfortunately, that's just a part of the game.

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  via Vitaly Gariev for Unsplash

  A group of working professionals stands next to each other after an interview

  _{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}

• "The other candidate started critiquing my answers out loud during a group interview and I did not handle it gracefully"

  
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• It's in your best interest to deny a group interview if you can. The candidate who shares this next story explains that they were not prepared for another candidate to critique their answers, likely because there's no real way to prepare for that. An interviewer's questions can be rehearsed, but a rebuttal to a critique from someone vying for the same spot cannot…

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• What would you do in the candidate's situation? This is honestly unavoidable because group interview culture begs the devil's advocate candidate to answer the hard questions and push all the buttons necessary.

  Have you ever been in a situation like this? Is there a way out of it besides through? Nobody wants to admit defeat in front of a prospective employer, but it's difficult to figure out the right way forward when you have all eyes on you, and you did not prepare for it. Sound off in the comments if you've experienced something humiliating like this. I'm feeling lucky I haven't… Yet!

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  via Getty Images For Unsplash+

  A torso shot of a professional waiting to enter their job interview.

  _{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}

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