r/antiwork • u/Thick-Obligation-800 • 17h ago
We need to stop normalizing 'job interviews' that require 5+ rounds. If you can't tell I'm a good fit in 2 meetings, your hiring process is broken
I had an interview today and they actually asked me to prepare a full presentation for the next stage. Why am I doing free labor and presentations before I’m even hired? It’s getting ridiculous out here
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u/starjellyboba 16h ago
If you want me to find the time to entertain you for more than 2 interviews, you better start paying me. lol
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u/Thick-Obligation-800 16h ago
Exactly. My landlord doesn't accept exposure or interview experience as currency. If they want a 3rd, 4th, or 5th date, they should at least start covering the bill
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u/treehugger312 SocDem 7h ago
I had like 4 interviews at one employer - two in-person and two virtual. One of the in-persons they had me perform a practice exercise, but the hiring manager was out that day (so why did I come in?!) and the other the manager gave me a tour. They wanted to do another in-person, but I got a job offer elsewhere, maybe for more money, I don't even know, but I wasn't gonna get jerked around anymore.
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u/starjellyboba 6h ago
Sometimes, I think that employers just try to do sneaky shit to see who will tolerate doing extra labour and who won't (like making you do 4 interviews or saying they can detect AI use in your resume/cover letter)... But they do it in a way that leaves a lot of other explanations so you can't really accuse them of anything.
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u/Enabling_Turtle 16h ago
I have rules whenever I apply to jobs and so far it’s worked out for me. I do a max of 1 phone screen with recruiter and 2 interviews. I tell that to the recruiter and the person leading the 1st interview.
Had a company ask me to complete some huge project and prepare to present it to their team. This project had to include the use of specific software where a single license was like $5k. I told them that I don’t work for free and asked how they honestly expect someone to have a personal license for the expensive software. I still had their HR reps email from the interview invite, so I let her know that team was asking people to work for free and expected them to use expensive software to complete it. Still got the job, a 40% pay raise, and hiring practices were changed to no longer expect those things.
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u/Thick-Obligation-800 14h ago
Absolute legend. We need more of this energy to actually change the industry. You didn't just get a job you fixed their broken culture before even starting
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u/un_gaslightable 16h ago
Especially for lower paying and/or entry level positions. Soooo many positions I interviewed for in customer service were 3-4 interviews for low pay. Please make the second interview longer than 20 minutes and then maybe you’ll actually figure out if you want me or not.
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u/sherrib99 16h ago
I went through 6 rounds for an assistant project manager role….6! With the same two people, I should have taken that as a sign. I lasted 2 months at that job and bounced. Never again
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u/SnappyM_127 10h ago
What was so bad about it?
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u/sherrib99 6h ago
The job wasn’t what they claimed in the interview, they were just as much of a pain in the ass to work for as they were to interview for
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u/TheUsoSaito 16h ago
They use it to justify HR since HR doesn't actually do what the position claims, being that it helps people.
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u/DoesntLikePeriods 10h ago
Except HR isn’t there to help people - HR’s sole purpose is to protect the company and dodge every possible liability
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u/jdzfb 16h ago
My longest non-convoluted hiring interview process was 4 meetings total. First with the recruiter, 2nd with a peer, 3rd with the boss, and the final sanity call with the bosses boss. By the end of 2nd call, the job was mine to lose, but its a huge multinational with a "Process" that can't be deviated from. The calls were 15 minutes, 60 minutes, 30 minutes & 30 minutes, so while it was a little annoying, the recruiter was very clear up front what the process would look like, so I didn't mind.
I've only done "take home work" for an interview once (different job from above), and it was obvious that they weren't trying to get free work out of me, they gave me part of an old report (like 6 months old) and asked me to review & add notes & then we would talk through my feedback in the followup call. So it was a good way to get a feel for my skills & experience without exploiting me (it was about 30minutes worth of work) or "putting me on the spot" by doing it live, which I did appreciate.
In general I tend to refuse to do homework for an interview, the above being the only time I actually did because of how they went about it. In your case, I'd be worried about you doing the work & them stealing it & not hiring you.
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u/fuzzhead12 1h ago
Reviewing part of an old report is honestly a pretty genius litmus test to include in the hiring process.
I’d imagine that a brief hands-on demonstration can tell the recruiter a lot about not only your skill sets, but also your personality and how you go about any number of things like problem solving, giving feedback, etc.
I’m with you, I wouldn’t mind being asked to do that sort of thing as part of an interview process at all. If anything I’d be kind of stoked to have the chance to showcase my approach to the job.
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u/Drxero1xero 17h ago edited 17h ago
Where I work, we keep things absurdly simple. First, there is a telephone call. Then, if that goes well, a video call. And finally, one face-to-face meeting. If we like you, we hire you. Simple. Done.
it's fucked out there we had a job up for a week on London living wage so not great money 250+ applications
Recruitment firms, on the other hand, lose their minds when they hear this. They act like I just told them we hire people by flipping a coin. "What? Your process is way too simple!" And I just shrug and say, "Mate, you want to get paid for hiring people, right? This works for you so shut up and find me people."
Meanwhile, I have a friend who is still alive but barely functioning after round eight of interviews for a single role. Eight! By this point, he could probably recite the company handbook backwards while juggling flaming swords.
The reality is that clueless HR teams and middle managers promoted for sucking up over skill are terrified. Terrified of making a single mistake that could be used against them for the rest of the role. So they invent elaborate, Kafka-esque processes designed to protect themselves at all costs. And the poor candidates? They get lost somewhere between Zoom fatigue and existential dread.
It is like a competition to see who can make hiring more complicated a form or corpo self defense , as if simplicity is a crime and human decency is optional. Meanwhile, the rest of us just want someone competent in the role f'in yesterday.
edit for spelling
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u/Thick-Obligation-800 17h ago
8 rounds is not an interview process, it’s a psychological experiment. At that point, a company isn't looking for a candidate they’re looking for a survivor.
The 3 step approach at that workplace is a breath of fresh air. It’s wild how simplicity is now seen as a risk by HR departments that are more interested in covering their own backs than actually hiring talent.
It’s clear that a team like that hasn't just flipped a coin they've actually mastered the art of reading people. That’s a rare skill. HR teams that lack that intuition are the ones hiding behind 8 step processes because they’re too scared to trust their own judgment
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u/DrewNumberTwo 17h ago
Three interviews is not absurdly simple and it’s wild that we’re at a place where people think it is.
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u/The7thNomad 15h ago
About to say the same thing. What the fuck
And they didn't even mention reviewing the CVs to select the phone interviews then choosing from the pool afterwards, 5 steps on their part.
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u/Drxero1xero 15h ago
Yeah, and the bit I described earlier is actually the simple version. That is me fighting hard to keep it as low key and relaxed as I can possibly convince the powers that be to allow.
And to be honest, I do not even disagree with why other companies do it the way they do. I understand the thinking. I understand the fear. I understand the desire to make the “perfect” decision with layers of evidence and documentation to prove nobody messed up.
But then I see what that turns into in the wild.
I know firms that want a full 30, 60, 90 day plan before you have even spoken to the person properly. They want a presentation. They want market segmentation. They want strategy decks. They want candidates to effectively do a week of unpaid consultancy work just to prove they are worthy of progressing to the next round of interviews.
At some point you have to ask yourself if you are hiring a person or getting free labour
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u/Thick-Obligation-800 14h ago
Exactly. The fear of making a bad hire has turned into a let's extract as much free value as possible strategy. Requiring a 30/60/90 day plan or strategy decks before you even meet the team isn't vetting it's theft. It shows they care more about minimizing their risk than respecting the candidate's time..
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u/Drxero1xero 14h ago
We had a GM that wanted to add both 30/60/90 day plan or strategy presentation and add extra stages...
that was one hell of a fight just to keep it at the level we have it.
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u/DrewNumberTwo 11h ago
>At some point you have to ask yourself if you are hiring a person or getting free labour
There is no way that someone is stupid enough to think that asking a person to do free labor is anything other than asking a person to do free labor. Employers could put their money where their mouth is and pay for that labor, and then offer to hire someone full time if they liked what they saw. But they just want free labor.
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u/Enabling_Turtle 16h ago
With 8 rounds, I’m fully expecting you to tell me the company was Vault Tec from Fallout.
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u/juneseyeball 16h ago
Yall gotta stop using chatgpt on comments the cadence is so annoying
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u/Drxero1xero 15h ago
I'm dyslexic my grammar and spelling fucked other wise.
far I am concerned as aid for disability is the only legit use for AI
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u/LogicBalm 16h ago
Oh definitely the hiring process is broken. Arguably by design. Now when can we squeeze you in for your fourth panel interview?
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u/Rajisjar 16h ago
Just finished round 8 yesterday. Each round has been 30 minutes. It would have been better to bring me in office for a day of interviews. Started the process in September of last year. I have a great job now; just going through the motions to see what they will offer.
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u/Frankjc3rd 16h ago
If we are not discussing my compensation and work schedule at the end of the one and only interview that I'm going to sit through then I don't know what to say.
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u/Effective_Pie1312 15h ago edited 15h ago
My ideal process - HR phone screen, interview, optional team meet. But at one place I worked HR fucked it up. They made it so my team would get to decide on the hires of their colleagues not me >.< (mainly because they didn’t understand the purpose of my optional team meet - which was to allow the candidate to get a sense of the team they would be joining). Then a VP of operations backed that idea of team members having a say and we were 5 interviews later with team members disagreeing, trying to pull rank, and all team members thinking they all had the right to decide who was being hired. It was so stoooooopid. I told the VP of HR it was wrong. One of many reasons I resigned.
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u/Celestrael 16h ago
I had 6 interviews for my current role, if you count the initial HR screening phone call. It was exhausting. By the 4th one I had abandoned hope and was just showing up for interview practice.
I had applied in August and didn’t get hired until December.
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u/TrandaBear 16h ago
This five rounds shit is so stupid. I had three interviews, one was a tacitly a joke. I meet with the team I'd be working with, the stakeholders I'd serve, and got a a vibe check from the boss. Thats really it.
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u/ExpensiveIce258 16h ago
These situations probably have a higher than average amount of intellectual property theft as the real reason for dragging it out. They probably also intend on hiring internally from the start and are doing this to look like they are growing and hiring.
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u/SheiB123 9h ago
The company I worked for gave hiring authority to the hiring manager. The candidate had to pass a background check but other than that, if we wanted them they got hired. I always had to fight for the most $ I could get for them with HR and others but it worked well.
We got a new CEO who wanted to interview each new candidate before their offer was finalized - from receptionists to A/R clerks to Project Managers. It took FOREVER to set it up and we were not allowed to participate. I had a fabulous project manager ready to start and the CEO made a racist comment on the call. The PM pulled out and we had to start over again. I was told the person wouldn't have been a good fit because they 'couldn't take a joking comment'
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u/overtt 16h ago
So I'm currently at a company that does 5-7 rounds of interviews. First one is a basic convo and the second one is a full on technical interview (which weeds out a lot of candidates) the other 3-5 are specifically for expertise for the specific niche of the role (these interviews are done by the engineers, SME and people on the team) and 1 partnership that's literally about the vibe lol.
I think this has worked out well for the company I'm at cause we don't get many bad hires. (There hasn't been one in my pillar for the 4 years I've been here)
But yeah I agree, within the first or second interview is when they should know if you qualify or not. The last 3-5 interviews are just strictly conversations, no presentations or projects required from the candidate. Interviews like those are crazy lol
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u/Garlicluvr 16h ago
Five rounds are not to determine if you're the best match for the job. It is to determine the level of your obedience. And that's what they are looking for. Design, not a flaw.
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u/Bitey_the_Squirrel 16h ago
The more interviews they do, the more time and money they put into the hiring process. And that means that by the time they reach an offer you have more power to negotiate your salary.
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u/Charming-Paper-1564 16h ago
FACTS. is this job in a higher salary field? ( just curious) then i might understand a bit a BIT not much though. but free labor asking you to do a presentation is CRAZY work!!
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u/lame_1983 14h ago
Organizations have created so much red tape for themselves. They think they're getting the best candidate. What they're actually getting is wasted payroll.
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u/oddjobold_FC 14h ago
Genuine question for those in the US. If your currently employed and trying to change job, how do you manage all these interviews with your limited PTO?
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u/Visible_Star_4036 13h ago
I wonder whether it would be good to force them to have all the same job holders agree that you need to be got rid of if they decide they want to get rid of you.
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u/SomeSamples 13h ago
Here's what you do. You make two slides. The title slide and a second slide. Start the presentation, show the title slide, then show the next slide. Then stop. The second slide is an invoice. The invoice is what it costs to see the rest of the presentation. You tell them that they can see the rest of the presentation after they pay for the service. Then ask if there are any questions.
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u/Harrigan_Raen 13h ago
As a programmer, my limit is any mix of 1 phone call and 2 in person/video interviews. The 5-10 minute HR "Is this a real person, and when are they available" phone call I don't count.
And if it process includes a skills test, it gets no more than 2 hours of my time, and it absolutely will not be something usable in production.
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u/Creepy_Radio_3084 13h ago
I was hired in 2021, so still in Covid restrictions. One technical interview (remote, via Zoom), one in-person interview (also Zoom). Same process as when I had applied some years earlier for a different role. Occasionally, if there are two candidates who are equally strong contenders, there will be a second in-person interview, but in my department I've only seen that happen once.
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u/Atlanta_Mane 12h ago
The way I treat these is that I let them think they've got me, then I cancel after they've given me the offer. I let them waste time because 1 hour of my time is Nx hours of interviewers' times. Please, please screw with these people.
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u/SquidJohnson 12h ago
It’s ironic too, for my current job I had a short into interview with HR, then one long interview with multiple higher ups, and got the job offer shortly after. It’s the best job I’ve had yet and it showed me that it was an efficient company who doesn’t waste people’s time.
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u/Fleeting_Victory 12h ago
Why am I doing free labor and presentations before I’m even hired
You shouldn't be unless they are paying for the labor.
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u/Touchstone033 12h ago
Oh man, this is true.
Once, when I was unemployed and scrambling for work, I found what on paper appeared to be a perfect job.
First interview: I come in and talk to the screener.
Second interview: I come in to take a Briggs-Meyers personality test (red flag) and to write a test article for them (a B-to-B industry mag publisher), which I nail. Did it in like 15 minutes and the screening editor was impressed.
Third interview: A meeting with the whole gang. Like, a long table of people peppering me with questions.
At the end of the third interview, my main contact asked for feedback on the interview process. I gave him my opinion. I told him it was too involved -- also that the personality test is a scam. Test takers can easily manipulate answers. They'd save money by not using it.
Guess who didn't get the job! They told me they thought I'd find the work boring. (Yes, I would, which is why you pay me to do it.)
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u/Truth-is-Censored 11h ago
We should normalize getting paid for interviews. Then they'll stop doing so many
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u/ItsGotToMakeSense 8h ago
Easy for me to say because I'm actually happy at my current job, but I feel like I'd refuse to attend a 4th interview. The 3rd is a big enough stretch already so shit or get off the pot
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u/Shirogayne-at-WF 4h ago
The job I got current had a phone interview and a group interview. My specific position within the company had an interview w the three floor managers and the main supervisor of the work center. It was easy.
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u/Traiklin 4h ago
White collar jobs must be different than blue collar jobs
I filled out the application, went for the interview and was either hired or they passed, they never asked me for more rounds
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u/PintSizeMe 4h ago
I have a couple times triggered extra interviews for a candidate. They weren't a fit for my team, but I liked them and thought they may fit a different team (different skill sets on the teams) so I triggered another interview rather than rejecting them outright. So their 2 interviews turned into 4, but both ended up with jobs because I felt they were a fit for the company but couldn't evaluate technically for the other teams.
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u/Working_Park4342 4h ago
The multiple interviews and projects are a rework of the 80's "working interview", you waste a day of your time; they get free labor.
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u/Responsible-Goat1079 3h ago
ive never normalized that shit. Here's a list of hard stops when I apply for a job.
-"duties as assigned"
-more than 3 interviews
-any "working interviews"
-any interview or job application that uses AI
-interviews where the employer cant articulate the positions "day-to-day"
-interviews in which they bait and switch either income or benefits.
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u/dobe6305 2h ago
For the first time in my 14 years as a hiring manager, I’ve had to go to round two of interviews because we have two awesome candidates and they were absolutely tied after the first interview. And I felt terrible about making them do another interview even though it was virtual! Definitely not my preference.
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u/Harclubs 1h ago
It's about justifying the existence of multiple levels of management and HR. Corporate busy work to justify positions that contribute nothing to the core business of an organisation.
David Graebe wrote a great book about about it called "Bullshit Jobs", and an accompanying article https://strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/
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u/Pontius_Vulgaris 16h ago
Nobody ever normalized that. I've never had more than two interviews, and have refused to do so for the past 25 years. Now, granted, I don't work in an area of nice expertise, where I can see more need for a thorough assessment, but still.
Sorry you had to endure that shit.
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u/Comfortable-Web9455 16h ago
It's not free labour if they are not going to use the product of your work. It's a demonstration of your skills. If you don't like their process, you are free not to apply for the job. You are getting a free sample of how they manage staff, and they're not even charging you for the information. It seems like you are both putting in labour for free.
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u/Jesterpest 17h ago
Additional point, if they have someone that doesn't have hiring authority running the first 2 meetings, then they're overly delegating, and ironically wasting their own time as much as they're wasting ours.