November 17, 2021
How Many Interviews is Too Many?
Each quarter, the Experienced Recruiting Research Team at Veris Insights asks senior Talent Acquisition leaders to participate in employer benchmarking. They share information on everything from Talent Acquisition function structure to hiring statistics, KPIs, vendor use, and more. We have captured a small snippet from our 2021 Q4 Employer Benchmarking report here to highlight the kind of information participants receive.
Employers are experiencing increased hiring demands with smaller talent pools
It is not an easy time to be a Talent Acquisition leader. Hiring needs are higher than in years past; 84% of employers saw an increase in hiring volume in 2021. Unfortunately, applicant volumes are not keeping pace with hiring demand; 68% of employers report stagnant or decreasing applicant volume. Acceptance rates also decreased for 40% of employers in 2021.
It is no secret that interviews play an important role in recruitment processes. In particular, the number of interviews can impact success with candidates.
How many interviews is too many?
The majority (63%) of candidates identify two as the best number of interviews for a candidate and an employer to be able to evaluate if it is a good fit. However, most employers (67%) require candidates to complete at least four interviews before reaching a final hiring decision, and Veris Insights employer benchmarking finds that additional interview rounds are correlated with increased candidate attrition.
A desire for more interaction and thorough assessment of candidates is understandable; however, care should be taken to consider whether the marginal benefit of each additional interview is worth the cost of candidates exiting the pipeline.
