There will be times when you come across a panel interview. And there is one interviewer who is basically hell bent in making your life miserable by questioning everything that you have to say, and also at times ignoring you. At the same time, the remaining family members are all smiles and asking very friendly questions. What could this possibly be? Well, my friend, this is a classic example of a good cop bad cop approach being employed in most organizations in order to psychologically test the best possible candidate for that job role. Now over the years, I've had the privilege of being both a bad and a good cop, and I have also paid in such interviews.

So I have experience of sitting on both sides of the table. And in this video, I would like to share some of my personal experiences so that you can learn from them. The main objective of adopting such an approach in an interview is that your potential employers want to see how you react under a pressure situation by taking you out of your comfort zone. The viewers want to test your limits of what you said that you can do. And at the same time, see whether you go towards a meltdown or not. Sounds are knowing, well it is.

But if you follow these certain steps that I will be sharing in this lecture, I am confident that you will clear the psychological test in a great way. The first and the most important point that I would like to get across in the very beginning is that please do not ignore the bad cop. Because diverting your attention only towards the good cop or the good interviewer is the worst possible mistake that you can make. It is the easier option, but it is the wrong option. Instead, engage with the complete panel irrespective of who is asking the questions. Remember, I've mentioned this before, that it is more important to please the doubters or convince them compared to those who are already convinced or are happy with your overall performance.

The second point that I would like to get across is that you must stay confident and maintain eye contact with the interviewers and not just with the good ones, but With the complete panel, I say this because the bad cop has been placed in the panel for a reason. And your job is to please everyone, not just your favorite individuals. So look at them in the eye, engage with the complete panel and try to answer all the questions that they ask to the best of your ability. The next point that I would like to get across is that please do not relax when the good cop takes over. Now it is easy to be off guard but it is something that you must not do. Because if the interviewer with all smiles and the one who is acting all chummy in the interview, notices that you are off guard, he or she will throw a question at you and you will wish that this interview never happened.

So please stay alert during the interview. Remember, this is a pressure test and you have to please all the panel members at the same time. Following this The next thing that I would like to tell you is that you should know your stuff in and out why this is important. Because both the interviewers good or bad are basically trying to determine your role in each example that you share. So you should should be hundred percent sure of what you're saying and should be able to justify it. If asked, then what you have to make sure is that no matter what happens, you cannot get aggressive or angry during the interview.

Now, I know that it's a very difficult thing to do to control your nerves and these individuals are trying to get after you with absurd questions, but you must remain calm and patient, if you get angry or aggressive, that interview is basically over. So keep in mind that they are trying to get on your nerves for a reason. And the reason is that they can and they want to test your limits. However, if you feel that they have asked you something and they are saying something which you feel is wrong, then it is your right to take a stand. And you can do this in a very professional manner. For example, you can say let's agree to disagree, or we have a difference of opinion.

This will show that you are a person of your word, and you're willing to take a stand for your beliefs and what you have to say in your interview. Over here I would like to share an experience with you my personal experience where I appeared for an interview for the consultancy firm for the position of head of HR. After going through a number of interviews, the final interview was a panel interview. The panel included all the senior managing consultants, and the owner as well as the owner of the business. And throughout that interview, which lasted more than two and a half, maybe three hours, all the panel members were hell bent in making my life miserable, especially the owner. And she was asking questions left, right and center just to confuse me and see whether I can respond to such questions or not.

During this phase, the owner asked me if I had children or not. And I told her that I did. I had a daughter at that time. Now I'm lucky to have two. And she asked how am I bringing her up and everything. In my response, I told her that as parents, we're trying to bring our daughter up in a way that she stays away from technology for a certain period of time, so that she can enjoy some of the natural beauty this world has to offer.

And so we discourage or limit the use of iPads and other devices so that she can concentrate and enjoy life in a better manner. So what the owner did is that She got after me and said that you are basically depriving her of the future, because according to her everything in the future is supposed to be digital. And those children who are deprived of technology at the very early age, are not able to stay up to date. In my response, I told her that yes, I agree to what she's saying to some extent, but I still feel that as parents, you must limit the use of technology. And why I say this is because the founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, himself discouraged his children from using the iPad or other digital devices for a long period of time. So this is something that I feel which is very personal, and we want our daughter to enjoy the beauty this world has to offer rather than confining herself to a tablet.

Then she said that okay, that means that you are imposing yourself on her. I said, Okay, yes, maybe I am. But this is something that we have decided that we will do, and you might be right in your own way. But I feel that this is something that I must do. So let's just agree to disagree. So you see in this response, you have seen that very politely I've conveyed my point of view and in response.

I have in the end summarized everything that let's just establish a difference of opinion and move forward. And can you imagine this was the very last question of that interview, and the next day they gave me a job offer. What I am trying to say is that in such an approach, the interviewers will at times ask you totally absurd questions, and they want to see whether you stand by what you've said or not. And if you take a stand on something that you believe in, this will go positively in your overall interview. Then comes the last point that I would like to get across is that no matter what happens during the interview, you have to show respect for all the interviewers. I say this because as interviewers, it is our job to test the candidates and ask them difficult questions in order to test their limits.

So this is nothing personal. You would do the same if you were hiring someone in your organization. So in the end, just make sure that during such an interview, you stay positive, you are calm, you are able to portray confidence in your answers and you know your stuff in and out. say this because at the end of the day, it is a battle of nerves and if you are able to control them, you will ultimately succeed.