We had a candidate referred to us who was exceptional. Her personality was charming; she had a good employment history and was seeking quick employment. With such great character traits, she already scheduled five interviews in four days. It was clear that she was going to find employment fast.
We contacted three of our clients and explained to them what a great candidate she was, hoping to set up interviews immediately. First client, who had been seeking an employee for over a month, was unable to interview due to spring break. Second client agreed to interview her but it required a multiple stage interview process with 3-4 people, thus a week long progression. The third client interviewed her via Zoom on a Thursday, followed by two Zoom interviews that Friday morning and later offered her a job that afternoon. She started the following Tuesday.
We don’t write the rules of the market. We simply live with them.
When we tell clients they need to hurry because the market is crazy, almost as bad as 1999, they think it is “recruiter speech.” Client one was downright upset with us for not delaying the candidate, nearly a week, until hiring authorities returned.
Again, we do not write the rules. This was a mid-level management job and our client had been looking for some time but failed to learn the lesson of urgency.
Frequently hiring organizations drag the hiring process out to avoid making a mistake. They are under the illusion that a multiple stage interview process with 3-4 people will alleviate hiring errors. It is simply not true.
The truth, involving more people in the interviewing process is a hiring management defense to spread blame if the candidate does not work out. However, studies have shown that the quality of a person being hired is no greater or less whether one person does the interviewing and hiring or more than one person does the interviewing or hiring.
A quality interviewing process is the key but has little to do with the number of interviews necessary to discover the ideal candidate.
