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Any hiring process looks to gather as much information as possible. However, you need to strike a balance. Scheduling seemingly endless rounds of interviews can ultimately hurt your cause.

For this reason, you have to understand how many rounds are too many. Typically, three rounds of interviews represent the upper limit at more organizations. Beyond that, you simply spin your wheels.

Not that further interview sessions can’t add value to the process. Plenty of good reasons exist to engage in multiple rounds of interviews:

  • Get more people involved in the decision-making process
  • Learn as much as possible about the candidates
  • Avoid making a knee-jerk decision

The second and third interviews can often reveal new details about a candidate. At the same time, you can get other people from your organization involved. This unlocks unique perspectives on the best fit.

Finally, extra interviews act to slow down the process. You get additional time to weigh candidates and have productive conversations about the best hire. You diminish the temptation to jump into a situation based on a flawed first impression.

The Downside of Additional Rounds of Interviews

Imagine yourself as a job candidate. Your spirits surge when you get invited for an interview. Then you get asked to do another one. And then another. Suddenly, other opportunities start to look much better.

This highlights the dangers of scheduling too many interviews with a single candidate. They lead to a few potential problems:

You Could Lose the Best Candidates

By definition, your top candidates have the most options. These in-demand talents juggle multiple opportunities. As an example, one data set suggested that the best candidates get hired within 10 days.

Given these figures, an extended hiring process can hurt your cause. Move too slow and you end up out of the running for these high-end candidates.

You Might Alienate Eventual Hires

Even if you get the candidate you want, multiple interviews can hurt you. Looking longer-term, your extended hiring procedures could create lingering tension.

Remember: the recruitment process represents your introduction to your new staffer. They could get annoyed or feel overly scrutinized by the multiple sets of interviews. As a result, it could get their tenure off on the wrong foot.

You Waste Resources in the Hiring Process

Too many interview rounds represent an inefficiency. You don’t just devote extra hours to your eventual hire. You spend a great deal of time talking to other candidates as well, ones that don’t end up joining your organization.

Those man-hours add up quickly. Looking at the total effort involved, you could end up with a significant amount of waste.

Judging the Value of Each Interview

So how can you tell if you have too many rounds of interviews? You can determine this by weighing the upside of each conversation. These set this value against the potential costs of extending your recruiting process. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

  • Identify Value Added for Each Round of Interviews: What do you learn from the last round of interviews that you didn’t know before? If the final set of interviews doesn’t impact the ultimate hiring decision, it didn’t have to happen.
  • Don’t Let Office Politics Play a Role: Sometimes, interviews get added to smooth egos and make executives feel included. Limit the impact these factors have on your hiring process.
  • Look at How Each Round of Interview Impacts the Time-to-Hire: Grab top candidates as fast as you can. Plus, a lengthy hiring process delays when your new hire can start productive operations.
  • Understand Who Makes the Final Hiring Decision: It’s good to get additional perspectives about a hire. However, the interviews should center on the decision-makers.

Interviews represent a time-intensive process. Any steps you can take to streamline the process would add value to your recruiting system. A top staffing agency, like PrideStaff, can make that possible. You’ll have the expert guidance you need to optimize your team-building efforts.

Contact the leading recruiters PrideStaff Bend today to learn more.

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