Two Interviews Is the Magic Number for Job Seekers, but Some Employers Push for Five

By Mitch Atkinson, Owner of Express Employment Professionals of Irvine, CA  

American job seekers and employers agree that more than one interview is necessary when filling open positions, but while candidates say two should suffice, some hiring managers believe that number should be closer to five. 

This is according to a recent survey from The Harris Poll commissioned by Express Employment Professionals.

Participating job seekers understand the interview process isn’t “one and done,” as 83% believe they should participate in more than one interview before receiving a job offer with two in five (41%) ideally participating in two interviews. Very few expect more than five interviews.

Conversely, 4 in 10 hiring managers (40%) say candidates can expect to go through two interviews before receiving an offer while 15% say job seekers can expect to go through five or more interviews at their company.

Both groups agree multiple interviews are beneficial for several reasons including job seekers’ ability to ask follow-up questions (56%), gain information on the position (56%), meet other employees within the company (47%) and ensure the company culture is a fit. Hiring managers say these extended opportunities allow them to better evaluate candidates’ personalities (50%) and skills (48%), ensure their fit with the company’s culture (47%) and get other employees’ perspectives on the prospective colleague (41%).

Taking too long to extend an employment offer, however, could also have consequences.

Job seekers say the drawbacks include the additional time added to the process (52%), delays landing a job (45%), adds additional costs (39%), could accept another job offer in the meantime (32%) or may become fatigued or disillusioned with the business (27%).

Hiring managers add that lengthy interview processes could also lead to subjective decision-making (26%) or biases (24%).

It’s easy to want to fast-track filling open positions, but making bad hires is costly in time and money, according to Express Employment International CEO Bill Stoller.

“Finding the balance between getting to know a candidate and facilitating too long of an interview process is tough but worth it to create a tenured, invested workforce,” he said.

Survey Methodology

The Job Insights survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals between June 13 and June 26, 2023, among 1,010 U.S. hiring decision-makers (defined as adults ages 18+ in the U.S. who are employed full-time or self-employed, work at companies with more than one employee, and have full/significant involvement in hiring decisions at their company). Data were weighted where necessary by company size to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within + 3.2 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest. 

The Job Seeker survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals between June 13 and June 26, 2023, among 1,006 adults ages 18 and older. Data are weighted where necessary by age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, marital status, household size, household income and propensity to be online, to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within + 2.8 percentage points using a 95% confidence level.

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The Irvine Express office is located at 13700 Alton Parkway, Suite 156 Irvine, CA 92618 and serves the Irvine, Tustin, Lake Forest, Foothill Ranch, Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita marketplace. Local businesses and applicants are encouraged to get in touch at their convenience. Call 949.583.7400 or visit www.expresspros.com/irvineca/.