How Many Interviews Are Too Many?

The Level of the Position

Generally, the higher up the organization chart you are hiring for, the more interviews you should conduct. If the position’s salary is below ~$60,000, an interview with a recruiter and the hiring manager will likely be sufficient. Any role at the director level or above (including C-suite positions) ought to have five interviews, give or take one.

There are several reasons for the difference in the number of interviews needed for different positions, but one of the most important is skill level. If you need a Technical Director who will supervise sophisticated engineers, you’ll need to test for leadership skills, technical acumen, and review compensation, benefits, travel requirements, in addition to letting them meet other team members. To achieve all of that will take several conversations.

On the other hand, if you are growing your remote inside sales team, you likely need only to cover the table stakes and test their ability to overcome sales objections and get a sense of their presence on the phone. All of this can be tested in two well-designed interviews.

The Market

The talent market shifts often and sometimes quickly. Your recruiting partner or in-house recruiters will have a sense of the market from talking with candidates. Adjust the number of interviews you conduct and the cadence of the interviews to keep up with or beat the market. If the market for accountants is hot, you can beat your competitors with speed by getting an offer out before them.

At ECA Partners, early in the interview process, we ask candidates if they are interviewing with other companies and if so, how far along they are. Knowing this is generally helpful for both your company and the candidate. It will let you know if the candidate timeline is such that you can adjust your interview process to catch up with other companies interested in the candidate.

Candidate Enthusiasm

A candidate’s interest level usually peaks early in the interview process and wanes as the process continues. Almost all candidates you interview will have jobs, and making time to interview can be cumbersome and difficult. If candidates are being asked the same questions by interviewers, or if subsequent interviews seem unnecessary, it can be hard to land the candidate at the end of the process.

To maintain enthusiasm, make sure every interview has a purpose and that every interviewer is a stakeholder. Candidates do not need to talk with every member of the team.

When enthusiasm is a concern, keep the interview momentum high. Candidates should move at least one step closer to the final interview each week.

Steven Haug, Ph.D. is a Project Manager of ECA Partners. He can be reached at [email protected].