I’ve been involved in more interview processes than I can count, and they all look different. We recently polled our professional network on how many interviews their companies conduct for new hires. 54.5% of respondents answered “1-2 interviews,” and 45.5% said they conduct “3-4 interviews.”
This matches what I’ve seen from most companies I’ve partnered with on hiring. For most positions, expect 1-3 rounds, but for more senior or technical roles, 4 rounds may be required to verify your expertise. If a company asks you to participate in 5 or more interviews, they may be leading you on. Here’s what goes into the process and how you can tell if it’s time to walk away.
Each stage in a well-structured interview process has a unique purpose.
The first interview is usually a brief screening call with a recruiter or a member of the HR team. They will ask you questions to make sure that your background and qualifications are in line with the company’s requirements for the role.
In a second interview, you will typically meet with the hiring manager for the position. They assess whether you’d be able to succeed in the role, beyond what’s on paper, and whether you would personally be a good fit for their team. You’ll be expected to share specific examples of how you’ve used the skills required for the role in your previous positions. This is often the final stage for entry- to mid-level jobs.
A third interview will often be with company leaders or members of the team you would be directly working with if hired. This stage is often used to further assess your fit with the company’s culture and make sure your goals align with theirs.
More rounds of interviews may be necessary for some roles.
It’s common to have more than three interviews for leadership roles and positions that require highly technical expertise. It’s incredibly rare for an entry-level position to require this many interviews, although it may be necessary in highly-regulated industries.
For roles where it does make sense to have more interviews, you may be asked to complete a real-world skills test or personality test at this stage. Otherwise, you may meet with another panel of company leaders.
Too many interviews could mean a company is stalling or leading you on.
Some companies recognize the need to expand their team, but start looking for candidates before deciding what job they really need to fill. Unfortunately, this is more common than you might think. If you’ve gone through more than four interviews and keep getting invited back for more, the company may be stalling while they work to decide who they’re actually looking for.
Another possibility is that the company never intended on filling the role in the first place. They may have chosen an internal team member for the job you applied to before they even started looking for more candidates. The hiring team could be conducting interviews to make it look like they did their due diligence on paper.
To make sure the opportunity you are interviewing for is legitimate, ask the hiring team for a timeline of steps involved before a hire is made. If they can’t provide one, consider it a red flag. If you’re confident the process isn’t going anywhere, don’t be afraid to thank the hiring team for their time and walk away.
Working with third-party recruiters can reduce the number of interviews you need to take part in.
Third-party recruiters like our team at Journey Search Partners are actively invested in getting our candidates hired. We fill roles in specific industries where we are experienced in assessing candidates’ technical abilities. If you are working with a recruiter who has an opportunity that fits your background, they will usually handle the initial screening interview. Since we verify that you are a strong fit both on and off paper, this can cut down on the number of interviews that the hiring team needs to conduct. If your recruiter finds that you’re a good match, they will advocate for you throughout the process and coach you on how to do well in the rest of your interviews.
