Photo by Evil Erin
Hiring and training is a drain on a budget in the best economic conditions so companies want to do it right the first time.
Candidates are in abundance right now so HR and management have an open field. It makes sense that there would be a vetting process to make sure a candidate is a good fit for the organization and brings the right talents to the position.
How many interviews or how much vetting is too much?
Typically most jobs today depending on the field and position start with multiple interviews and / or team interviews.
As my clients move through the resume review process to move on to the interview process, they often touch base to let me know where they are in the process.
Frequently, it starts with a phone interview, perhaps with HR or a recruiter, to determine if the candidate’s qualifications really match the job description. The initial phone interview can be followed with a second phone interview with either the same person or perhaps someone at a higher level in either HR or management.
Eventually, the chosen candidate will move on to an in-person interview with a team composed of HR, management, department staff leadership, or a future co-worker. Or perhaps, the candidate may interview with one or two members and then progress to a second or third interview in the same facility with different personnel.
Increasingly common in the vetting process is the use of assessments. Assessments such as Myers-Briggs, Strong Interest Inventory, Wonderlic Personnel Test, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, and others are prevalent as tools to learn more information about the potential employee.
Assessments using the DISC tool are also in my resume packages. My clients love the additional insight about their communication and management styles that assessments provide and the enlightenment of learning more about their ideal work environment.
But if you are the chosen candidate who has been through six or more interviews and then sent a consulting group’s testing information which includes four or more of the assessments you need to complete prior to the interview with the consultant, does it start to be counter-productive?
How about when the questions candidates need to answer are ones like: “Have you ever lied?” Now think about that one… if you are interviewing for a position in financial services or a legal department who works with confidential trust accounts, the whole honesty issue is an important attribute.
Think hard on the question, “Have you EVER lied?” Did you EVER answer your mom when she asked if you ate a cookie before dinner with “No, Mom, I didn’t?” Yes, you lied. If you answer the question, have you ever lied, with a no, well… Catch-22?
How many interviews and how many assessments does it take before your best candidates either get disillusioned or befuddled? Or go find a company that uses a simpler interview strategy?
What do you think? How much is too much?
Another problem that companies may run into if they have such a lengthy interview process is losing a good candidate to a competitor that uses a shorter process. Paralysis by analysis on the part of an employer is not beneficial, either.
.-= Melissa´s last blog ..Are You a Doormat? =-.
Exactly, Melissa. I was talking to a return client the other day. We had worked together more than 10 years ago and he needed an update so we were discussing all the changes in the field. When I mentioned a recent client had 7 interviews and another had 8, he said, I’d have been ready to quit at number 3.