Career and talent resources

MRT Insights

August 22, 2022

Are Job Interviews Getting Out of Hand?

Is it the fear of hiring the wrong candidate or the inorganization and lack of quality hiring practices that are causing interview fatigue in job seekers?

You have just received another email invitation for your 5th virtual interview with the company you have been interviewing with for over a month. This time, they have asked you to work on a project that showcases your abilities within your field and to send it to one of the top executives before your interview next week. You do not hear back from the employer for weeks between interviews, questions you ask about the role or the company are left unanswered or given vague responses, and now you are asked to submit real-world strategies and a project that will take all your free time to complete… where do you draw the line?

interviews

Reasons for Multiple Interviews

Multiple interviews are a common practice, especially if the company has fewer employees where the need for a great candidate match is more vital than in a larger company with thousands of employees. Multiple interviews are great ways to ensure the candidate is seriously interested in the role, all hiring authorities have had the opportunity to meet the candidate, and any answers that needed clarifying or questions that needed to be asked were covered. It gives the interviewer and the interviewee both time to share or learn more about each other while also taking the time to make sure this is the right fit for both sides. However, when does it go too far?

Too Many Interviews

Typically, the average job-seeker expects to have at least three interviews but believes five interviews without the knowledge of how many other candidates are competing for the same role causes red flags to be raised. For higher executive roles, more interviews are usually needed, but for most, five interviews or more have job seekers looking for other options. Besides too many interviews, interviewees are being asked more often to complete a project after initial rounds of interviews. This has left a lot of interviewees questioning the integrity of the hiring process. Many job seekers do not have time to complete these projects or are not comfortable submitting work without fair compensation. Asking potential employees to submit portfolios of previous work, writing examples, or sharing their experiences and projects worked on in the past is the general practice of uncovering their skills and abilities.

Unorganized Hiring Process

Sometimes, multiple interviews are required because the hiring authorities have not established a cohesive and planned hiring process. An unorganized hiring process can include:

  • Not knowing the full scope of the role or job description/responsibilities
  • Not having an idea of what to look for in the candidate pool
  • Not having enough open availability and time management across all hiring authority’s calendars
  • Not having the right questions ready to qualify the candidate in the interviews
  • Not have a team ready to make an offer when the right candidate is found
  • Not having quick and efficient communication with the candidate pool on interview feedback and scheduling the next round of interviews

According to a Robert Half survey, 62% of professionals lose interest in a job if they don’t hear back within two weeks of the initial interview. An established timeline and quick responses are easy ways to retain applicants for the open job. An unorganized hiring process can cause the need for too many interviews and the time between interviews to be long, which creates a greater chance for exceptional talent to be lost.

Recruiters can help close the gap in the hiring, interviewing, and onboarding processes. Reach out to one of our experienced recruiters to hear more about our service offerings and see how we can take the time and pain out of the hiring process.

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