How many interviews?
Just how many interviews does it take to land an offer? You have had the phone screen and met the recruiter, members of the hiring team, and the hiring manager. Yet, we have been called in for yet another face-to-face meeting. You are wondering WTF is up. How many interviews does it take to figure this out? Can’t they figure this out? You hang up the phone, happy you are still talking but shaking your head and asking yourself, “How many interviews?” How many interviews does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? If you are being asked to come in for another interview, remember this: YOU ARE STILL IN THE GAME. YOU HAVE NOT HEARD A “NO”. This is a great thing. Remember: the goal of any meeting “is to get the next meeting.” Which of the two would you rather hear?
“We would like you to come back to meet with more of the team.”
or a voicemail on your phone:
“The team liked you, but we decided to move forward with candidates that more closely fit the job description. We will keep your resume on file for future openings”.
F@#$ ME!!!! What did I do wrong? Read this if you have said, “I was perfect for that job!!!” There are many
reasons, all business-related, not in any particular order, why you may be asking yourself, “How many interviews?” One of the reasons is that the company is testing your patience. This isn’t the only reason you will have multiple interviews, but you will be surprised how many candidates feel like they are not progressing and are “mentally broken.” Candidates self-select themselves out of a job by voicing concerns on the following:
- The company doesn’t move fast enough.
- The company can’t make a decision.
The company holds the cards
The company may be moving slowly, but at the end of the day, the company is looking for someone who fits the company culture. Remember, the company holds all the cards, and you want the offer (maybe not the job, but you do want the offer). Trust me, if I hear your frustration, I see yellow flags waving because your frustration is an indication of how you will handle stress and the uncontrollable situations in the work environment. Frankly, I am glad these yellow flags show themselves. I would much rather have a candidate show their true colors BEFORE they are hired and send me back to the drawing board. A candidate who becomes easily frustrated as a hired employee is a problem for the hiring manager, which becomes an HR problem. If you haven’t figured it out, I don’t like HR problems.
Building teams, not just hiring you
We all know that the interview process produces hap-hazard results. It isn’t the most qualified person who gets the job; it is the person who knows how to interview and receives the job offer. How often have we worked in groups where the team hired a dud? This is why many companies feel that longer interview loops will increase the odds of weeding out duds. (And these longer loops usually do weed out the whiners.) With today’s team dynamics, companies are not hiring individual contributors but building teams.
Shotgun marriage
For high performance, teams need to buy into the addition of another team member. A manager showing up to a team and announcing “Hey guys, this is Jim, he is our new salesperson. Make him feel welcome” with no prior history or interaction isn’t going to fly these days. This is the equivalent of an “arranged marriage” or, worse, a shotgun marriage. I wouldn’t want to be introduced to a new hire in a group this way, and I don’t want my manager dumping some new rube on me without warning. This is why you ask yourself, “How many interviews will they put me through?”
Different people on the team are going to ask you different questions. All interviewers may ask you similar questions, but many interview loops are pre-planned. Various interviewers have a specific role or are supposed to probe and ask about different topics. If good cop – bad cop comes to mind, it may be on purpose. Candidates can fake sincerity with one person, maybe two, but most companies realize that you aren’t going to keep up your “fake” act throughout 4-6 interviews. You will react differently with interviewers from different cultures, of different sexes, and with different levels of experience and age. As more and more employers focus on employees as their number one asset, they want to protect it. Bringing in strong players helps the company. Bringing in strong players that are assholes can send a strong team to search for new jobs.
One or two interviews can be ineffective. Multiple interviews will help flush out potential liabilities
Multiple interviews may result from the company not being convinced you are “the one.” If you are getting called in more than you feel you should be, OR you are being asked to go through additional “hoops,” there is a solution. Politely ask the recruiter or hiring manager if they feel you are missing any skill sets or qualities. Remember, at this point, the hiring company is invested. They WANT you to work out. They are probing and questioning you to find specific information about your prior experience. You asking the question will save everyone a lot of time. A few good probing questions that can be asked (without the attitude, of course):
- Are there any skill sets I am missing, or would you like me to elaborate?
- What might hold me back from being considered for this position?
- Are you considering any other candidates? Is there anything I am lacking compared to them?
Specifics and quantifiables
Give specific EXAMPLES and instances where you demonstrated the requested skill sets. Use names of companies, clients, and co-workers, and quantify your results with numbers and percentages. You may ask yourself, “How many interviews does this take?” When I am the candidate, I WANT to know as many people on the team as possible. This will help ME make an informed decision and provide more data on the team I will be working with. If you meet the one “nice guy” on the team, and the rest are ogres, you are “out of luck.”
Ask questions of the team members.
If you are getting inconsistent answers from different team members, this should be a yellow flag for you and deserves clarification and deeper digging on your part. Even if you have had your questions answered, ask the same question to multiple people. Keep asking questions because your lack of questions asked will be interpreted as a lack of interest.
Remember, if you are getting called in for yet – another interview, THIS IS A GOOD THING! YOU ARE STILL IN THE GAME. YOU HAVE NOT HEARD A “NO”. The goal of an interview “is to get the next/many interviews.”
See you at the after party,
HRNasty
nasty: an unreal maneuver of incredible technique, something that is ridiculously good, tricky, and manipulative but with a result that can’t help but be admired, a phrase used to describe someone good at something. “He has a nasty forkball”.
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Karthik Ramakrishnan
April 24, 2013” I personally wouldn’t want to be introduced as a new hire to a group this way and I don’t want my manager dumping some new rube on me without warning. ”
Well said and that goes both ways. I would not accept any offer unless I meet the hiring manager and a manager and his team must have the most say when they hire someone. Interviews are a two way street, the team evaluates the candidates and the candidate is also evaluating the team and his hiring manager and by excluding the team and/or the manager we are doing a disservice to the candidate and the larger organization.
Mark Law
March 12, 2013It’s true that the wait/multiple interviews can be frustrating. We should recognise that most companies are back-filling, rather than expanding at the moment, and will be frustrated at the need to replace and train the replacements for leavers.
But recruiting firms could do far more. They could schedule these meetings as if for clients/customers, not for hungry applicants.
Hirers should not prioritise interviews around meaningless internal meetings. Avoid cancelling at the last minute and always offer to pay reasonable expenses. Also, if the candidate is coming from afar, we should make the effort to schedule several interviews on the same day. i once travelled 250 miles for a half hour interview for a 6 week project, and the interviewer asked me to come back the following week for further interviews. i declined. Having a job interview is stressful. Easier for the interviewer (tho stressful too), but we often forget just finding the site or building can be hard.
I know interviewees should do their groundwork, but in this economy, some agencies stress the importance of a speedy meeting for which neither side is properly prepared, in order to beat the competition to a quick placement fee. And guess what; unbelievably, sometimes they are not truthful with their clients or candidates! We’ve all met them!