Companies who really want to hire don’t treat job applicants like this.
Mike Conley, 49, an Indiana-based software engineering manager, lost his job in the pandemic and was looking for work.
Here’s how it went:
“Five companies told him they had to delay hiring because of Covid-19 – but only after he’d done the final round of interviews. Another three invited him for several rounds of interviews until it was time to make an offer, at which point they decided to promote internally. Then, he made it through three rounds of interviews for a director-level position at a company he really liked, only to receive an email to co-ordinate six more rounds. ‘When I responded to the internal HR, I even asked, Are these the final rounds?’, he says. ‘The answer I got back was: We don’t know yet.'”
None of those companies will get his energy and talents. Conley declines to work for them. He’s heard from other jobseekers who pulled out “when they found out it was going to be six or seven interviews.” It doesn’t take that many interviews to hire someone. That kind of vacillation means the company is disorganized, unserious about hiring, or playing games.
The media is full of stories about “worker shortages” and employers struggling to hire. But “the internet is awash with similar stories [of] jobseekers who’ve become frustrated with companies – particularly in the tech, finance and energy sectors – turning the interview process into a marathon.” Which raises questions about whether they’re not filling job vacancies because of a worker shortage, or because they don’t need or want to.
Companies have a legitimate interest in thoroughly vetting candidates, because hiring mistakes are costly. Recruiting experts say the higher level and more responsible the position, the more interviews are appropriate. For jobs below top executive level, two or three rounds of interviews should be enough. Candidates in demand don’t have to screw around to get a good job, and companies that screw around won’t get good candidates.
Of course, the best place to be is not to need a job at all. During the pandemic, a lot of unemployed workers decided to become self-employed, and started their own businesses. If they’re successful, they’ll never come back to the job market. Nor will the many over-65s still working in 2019 who were pushed into retirement by the pandemic layoffs. All these people are done with the hiring game — and game-playing — for good.
Read story here.