It's not unusual for more than one company employee to interview a candidate to provide a variety of opinions on the individual, especially if she will play a key role in the organization. In fact, sometimes these meetings are carried out simultaneously through the use of an interviewing panel made up of the hiring manager plus other members of the management team or work group, usually no more than three to five people.

Panel interviews are beneficial when small businesses want to quickly get a promising hire through multiple interviews in a timely manner. It's best for the hiring manager to conduct one-on-one screening interviews with applicants first, however, choosing only a few finalists for panel interviews. This saves panelists' time and ensures that the hiring manager is presenting only those candidates he or she may ultimately hire.

Panel interviews are most successful when the hiring manager distributes job criteria to the interview team in advance along with specific questions. This helps to ensures panel members will be able to compare candidates in a consistent fashion using like criteria.