Why employers take multiple interview rounds?

Employers are increasingly keen to hire the right candidate; hence the recruitment process for senior and mid management role has lengthened with more interview rounds being thrown in, hiring experts said.

In recent times, in spite of several rounds of interviews, many organizations across different industry sectors have been unable to take a decision to close a position.

While CXO-level candidates always had to face multiple rounds, now even mid- and upper mid-level candidates are going through multiple interview rounds. This could be due to the fact that middle management plays a key role in enabling objectives; organisations are including additional personal interactions apart from line manager and HR discussions for these levels.

Companies are being cautious but at the same time don’t want to lose good candidates so, they keep them engaged by having multiple rounds of interviews. Also, risk is minimised when multiple people review the same candidate.

Companies want to play safe, hence the trend is to evaluate the maximum possible number of candidates available within a domain and sector before selecting the top two or three, and hiring the best among them.

Many companies realise that to identify a candidate who can perform to a role aligned with the specific company’s goals and culture multiple interview rounds are required. This could be to get a diversified feedback, and in-depth scrutiny through various scientific assessments are attempts to lower the risk of poor judgement, to avoid hiring costs due Skill deficit non-performance.

Organisation are well aware of the consequences of making a wrong hire; that could range from Financial implications, decrease in employee morale to attrition among high performers.

Multiple meetings and interview rounds with multiple stakeholders give a better insight on the candidate suitability from an alignment and fitment perspective, cultural alignment and skill sets. Companies are finding that it is worth investing the additional effort and time in finding the ‘right’ person for the job and not just one available ‘right-now’.

Considering employers in India are getting more competitive, multiple selection rounds are required to tap aggressive learners, innovative and flexible minds. Workforce dynamics are undergoing worldwide upheaval. Rapidly evolving technologies, business models, demographics, and workplace attitudes are triggering a tidal wave of change which is the major reason to why employers are taking longer than before in finalising the candidates. 

Multiple rounds are also aimed at checking few important personality traits of the candidates, such as the ability to handle conflicts, emotional stability, intent of the candidate according to the patience shown during the interview and decisiveness. Today, recruiters are increasingly looking for well-rounded candidates — those having the necessary technical skills complemented with important soft skills. Most of the jobs, or roles, which need the biggest amount of change, are in the technology, fast-moving consumer goods, banking & finance, infrastructure, and telecom sectors.

Select Global Solutions is a fast growing executive search firm hiring for middle and senior level positions for various roles across diverse industry sectors all over India. If you are looking to expand your team with the right-fit executives and want cost – effective recruitment solutions, connect with us.