Remember when getting hired meant submitting a résumé, conducting an interview, and maybe getting a call back the next week? That era is gone.
Today, it’s normal to sit through four, five, even ten rounds of interviews for a role that pays… not that much. And what’s worse: half the time you won’t even hear back. You’ll get ghosted.
So why is this happening? Why are companies, especially for-profit ones, making hiring slower, harder, and more expensive?
Let’s break it down.
Four (and a half) reasons companies keep adding more interviews
We talked with recruiting experts and came to these four (and a half) conclusions.
1. Leverage, not logic
Dragging you through five rounds isn’t just inefficient; it’s strategic.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, it now takes job seekers an average of 24 weeks to land a role. That means if you’re unemployed, you’re far more likely to take the offer, no matter how mediocre, just to make the ordeal end. If you’re currently employed, you’ll burn goodwill every time you dip out for another interview round, until you either give up or give in.
Long processes wear people down. And when you’re tired and desperate, you’re less likely to negotiate for better pay, remote work flexibility, or benefits. Hiring teams know this. It’s not broken logic. It’s a power move.
2. “Google does it”
Another driver? Mimicry.
Companies look to prestige players like Google and Meta and assume that their interview bloat equals rigor. But they forget the context: Google reportedly receives 3 million applications per year. A single bad hire in engineering could cost the company tens of millions. Of course they’re going to test obsessively.
Most companies don’t have Google’s talent pool or risk profile. But they adopt the same 6- to 25-step processes anyway, assuming complexity equals quality. It doesn't.
And here’s the irony: Harvard Business Review reports that this trend is leading to worse hiring outcomes. Top candidates drop out early. The ones who stick around are often those with fewer options.
3. It’s not their time
Hiring managers and HR staff are salaried. Sitting in interviews doesn’t cost them personally; it might even help them make the case for needing more headcount on their own teams.
Meanwhile, the actual department with the vacancy gets strung along, productivity drops, and the role stays unfilled. But hey, at least there’s no risk of making the “wrong” hire, right?
The truth is, many hiring managers would rather waste time than be blamed for a hiring mistake. So they prolong the process, share the burden of choice, and call it diligence.
4. They were never going to hire you anyway
In some cases, the interview is just theatre.
- Maybe the company already has an internal candidate lined up but needs to "comply with process."
- Maybe they want to sponsor a foreign worker but must first prove they tried to hire locally.
- Maybe they just want to appear like they’re growing when they’re not.
Either way, you're not in the running...you’re a paper trail. And the longer they keep you in the loop, the better it looks on the surface.
4.5. It helps them hedge
Sometimes, companies just aren’t sure if they need the role filled at all.
They’ll backfill a resignation, go through 6 rounds of interviews, then realize the work is getting done anyway. So they ghost everyone, cancel the req, and move on.
Other times, they keep candidates “warm” in a holding pattern while budget approvals stall or organizational changes unfold. For you, it’s anxiety. For them, it’s optionality.
So what should we take from this?
Multiple interviews aren't always a sign of rigor; they're often a sign of risk-aversion, corporate mimicry, or pure opportunism. And unfortunately, job seekers carry most of the cost.
This doesn’t mean we’re powerless. But it does mean we need to shift our mindset:
- Expect the process to be slow, especially in enterprise environments.
- Push back politely if the interview process starts ballooning without clear justification.
- Ask about timelines, decision-makers, and what each interview is designed to assess.
- Walk away if your time isn’t being respected. The best companies won’t test your loyalty before you’re even on payroll.
In a market where employer branding talks about transparency, fairness, and candidate experience, these drawn-out processes tell a different story.
How many rounds of interviews is normal?
There’s no universal rule, but here’s what the data and anecdotal reports suggest:
- 1–2 rounds is typical for hourly roles, retail, hospitality, and entry-level admin positions. A phone screen and an in-person or video interview is usually enough.
- 2–3 rounds is standard for mid-level professionals—think marketing managers, product designers, operations leads.
- 3–5 rounds is expected for leadership roles or technical specialists. These often include peer interviews, case studies, or presentations.
- 5+ rounds is where it starts getting excessive—and where drop-off rates spike. Beyond this point, candidates often perceive the company as disorganized or indecisive.
Some high-stakes roles (e.g. at hedge funds, elite consultancies, or FAANG companies) may stretch to 8+ rounds, but they’re the exception, not the benchmark.
If you're interviewing for a role that pays market rate and doesn't involve managing millions of dollars, a 6th interview isn’t a sign of diligence. It’s a red flag.
Where one-way interviews fit in
If you want to reduce friction without sacrificing rigor, one-way interviews are a smart middle step.
Instead of scheduling five back-to-back Zoom calls, companies can start with a structured, pre-recorded interview. Candidates answer a fixed set of questions on their own time, and hiring teams review the responses when it fits their schedule.
Used well, this format offers three key advantages:
- Faster screening: You can evaluate more candidates in less time without calendar Tetris.
- More consistent data: Everyone answers the same questions in the same order, making comparisons fairer and bias easier to spot.
- Less candidate fatigue: Instead of dragging people through four redundant meetings, you get to the signal faster; and so do they.
The best hiring teams use asynchronous interviews as a filter between the résumé screen and live interviews. It replaces the vague, awkward “vibe check” call with a structured first impression.
And when combined with scoring rubrics or AI summaries, it’s both faster and leads to better outcomes.
How many rounds of interviews is normal depends
For employers: the data is in. More interviews don’t guarantee better hires; they just reduce your chances of landing the best ones.
For job seekers: understand the game. Don’t confuse hoops for hurdles. And don’t let a bloated process chip away at your confidence or your standards.
And if you're building hiring software or designing interview workflows (like we are at Truffle), remember that more isn’t better. Better is better. And better means structured, fair, and fast.
