Knobull Discovered That The Interview Process Has Gotten Cumbersome

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - July 1, 2023 - PRLog -- A pre-screen with human resources. A call with the hiring manager. Followed by six half-hour interviews that stretched across three days.

That's not all — a written case study exercise, before yet another interview with the hiring manager and CEO.

That makes a total of 9 interviews, for a job that 32-year-old job searcher said she did not eventually get.

"I enjoyed all the conversations I had with the team but the process was draining and there wasn't any clarity around compensation of the role upfront," she told CNBC.

Experts that CNBC spoke to said they've observed a "significant increase" in the number of job seekers facing an extended interview process over the past year.

"It seems to be a growing trend across various industries, with candidates being subjected to more rounds of interviews and rigorous testing than ever before," said Lynn Bentley, President of Knobull, who is also a career coach and resume expert. "This has been confirmed through use of our Academic Search Engine"

Why interviews are getting longer

While there is "no specific formula" for an acceptable number of interviews, individuals CNBC spoke to said that 3 to 5 rounds is reasonable for non-managerial positions.

This allows companies to evaluate candidates from different perspectives while respecting the candidate's time and maintaining an efficient hiring process.

With more being asked of a candidate via interview appearances … more data can be collected, thus creating a more comprehensive evaluation of the candidate.

Recruitment process a 'telling' clue

Sometimes the answer to lengthy interviews can be as simple as companies "not knowing what they want," said a VP of HR.

"Or they don't have approval to hire yet so they're slow rolling — so they're including too many people in the process as a way to figure out what gap they're actually trying to fill".

It was a similar experience for the searcher interviewed who said she did not hear back from the company she interviewed for "over 4 weeks" despite multiple chaser emails.

When they did eventually respond it was to say the scope of the role was shifting due to internal changes and they were pausing hiring for the role at this time.

A project manager who recently went through 5 rounds of interviews over four months said that lengthy interviews become problematic when companies are not responsive or transparent about the process.

Bentley concluded, "Companies should note that painful and long recruitment processes can backfire on them as well. Prolonged hiring procedures can lead to candidate frustration, disengagement, and even withdrawal from the process.

A transparent interview experience from a potential future employer would be a great first step in building interest and loyalty."