Interviewing is hard. You have a lot riding on finding the right candidate. Then there is the inherent difficulty in engaging candidates in a market that has a shortage of almost every type of job. Today, candidates are fickle. If you take too long during the interview process, they may simply walk away to go to your competitor. How much streamlining can you do before the candidate selection process suffers? How long should your interview rounds go before a decision is made?

What Is The Appropriate Amount of Interviews?

Pros and Cons of Having Multiple Interview Rounds

It would be great if there were a standard interview. If you had a book that told you to do this many interviews for this type of candidate, or if there were a template for the perfect interview process, we know you’d use it. The reality is that there is a standard and the best practices that are out there are a matter of opinion. Some companies have a multi-panel interview process. Some HR teams love behavioral questions. Other companies swear by testing. What’s right for you may not be right for the business down the street. The one thing we can share is that there are plusses and minuses for the number of interviews you have. 

For example, the perks of having a longer job interview process are:

  • You’ll get to know the candidate better which means you have a better shot of picking the right employee.
  • You’ll naturally weed out the candidates who weren’t serious about working for your company. They’ll probably move on to easier interviews.
  • You’ll be able to engage a wider pool of existing team members in the interview process.

But there are also some negatives when drawing out the interview process. They include:

  • Multiple interviews cost your company (and employees) time and money. Instead of working on normal production tasks, each employee participating in the interview process will lose that time to interviewing.
  • Multiple interviews are also very time-consuming for the candidate, particularly if they’re working a full-time job. If they’re interviewing with several companies simultaneously, this can be a huge drain on their time.
  • Frankly, multiple interviews in this job market give your company more ways to scare off a candidate. Especially if the person conducting the interview hasn’t been properly briefed on how to conduct an interview. 

Are there types of jobs that actually require a longer interview process? You can generally stick to one or two interviews for entry-level positions or if the job is minimum wage. For example, if the skills the candidate needs are learned on the job, maybe only one interview is needed. 

To figure out the right number of interviews for your company, ask whether each interview brings value to the process. It’s important to coordinate your interviews so there isn’t duplication between interviewers; this can make you look disorganized. In this instance, it helps to have an applicant tracking system that allows each interview to make notes and rate the candidate directly into the platform. That way you can easily see the candidate ranking at each step in the process.

How Many Interviews Are You Doing?

The truth is that the right number of interviews depends on your unique situation. But there is only one ATS that can give you the tools you need to give the candidate and your interviewers a better experience. Find out about Exelare and how we can help you land better employees—faster.