Three Reasons to Hold Multiple Interviews Before Offering a Job

Prolonged vacancies are no fun for anyone.  Whether it's an existing position or a newly created role, everyone at the company wants the seat to be filled ASAP.  While the interview process needs to proceed quickly and efficiently, it must also be diligent and detailed.

To ensure that the employee selection process results in the hiring of the best candidate available, Elite Personnel conducts multiple interviews before we recommend a candidate to our clients.  The interview process can be challenging for candidates, but multiple interviews are necessary to ensure that the right candidate is selected for each organization we work with.

Below are three of the main reasons we conduct multiple interviews:

1. Validate Initial Impressions

Since phone screens and initial remote interviews are typically brief, it’s difficult to determine if initial impressions are correct.  It is important to schedule a follow-up interview to confirm that a candidate is capable of performing the responsibilities associated with the position.  This additional meeting helps us to better understand the candidate and evaluate their experience and professionalism as well as helping us decide whether the candidate is compatible with our clients’ professional culture.

2. Ask Questions That Require More Detailed Explanations 

The purpose of a phone screen is to quickly make sure that what the candidate listed on their resume accurately reflects their professional experience and skills.  A few basic questions about prior experience, industry trends or typical day-to-day scenarios are all we usually need to conclude that a candidate is being truthful or if they may be out of their element. 

A follow-up interview is the right venue for more challenging questions.  Now that we know that the candidate has the basics, we use the second interview as an opportunity to discover if the candidate can answer specific questions or scenarios and deliver thoughtful responses that accurately reflect the necessary steps that should be taken to resolve a particular issue, meet a fast deadline, or successfully complete the task at hand.  While the interview process can be challenging for candidates, multiple interviews are necessary to ensure that the right candidate is selected for each organization we work with.  

3. Get Second Opinions

After we conduct a first or second round of in-person/remote interviews, we may feel confident about multiple candidates.  To help us cull the list or make the final decision, it’s always good to get a second opinion.  We may invite other recruiting experts from our team to interview our candidate to a final interview with the candidate to help us confirm our instincts.  Our clients may conduct their own interview – usually to gather very specific information or verify corporate culture fit since we have already conducted a thorough interview and background check process.  A client interview is helpful at thinking of questions that are pertinent to the position but were not previously asked. 

While conducting multiple interviews is necessary to ensure the right candidate is hired, the interview process can be laborious for hiring teams and HR departments.  That’s where the the expertise and assistance of a first-rate staffing agency can help shorten the amount of time spent on the employee selection process.  Elite Personnel reviews each applicant's resume, selects the most qualified candidates and schedules phone screening and additional interviews—taking the work off the shoulders of your team.  If you’re interested in learning more about how we can help your organization, please contact our recruiting experts today!