Landing a job used to be half the battle. But in today’s ultra-competitive job market, even candidates who make it to the interview stage are struggling to actually receive job offers. A growing trend of multi-round, interview marathons – sometimes stretching out over months – is leaving job seekers feeling drained and discouraged.
“I thought I hit the jackpot when a Fortune 500 company contacted me about an entry-level marketing role,” says Andrew, a recent college grad with a business administration degree. After a short initial video interview, Andrew was asked back for three more rounds, totaling over six hours, with various managers.
“They told me after each round that they were excited to advance me, and I was doing great,” Andrew explains. “Then, three months after first applying, I got a short email saying they went with someone else. All that time interviewing felt like it was for nothing.”
Andrew’s experience is increasingly common. Top employers average four to five interview rounds, sometimes with extensive projects, presentations, or sample work required during the process. Job seekers invest substantial time and emotional bandwidth in these interview marathons, only to ultimately get rejected or worse: ghosted.
HR experts point to several factors fueling this trend of dragged-out interview processes:
Public Firms Chasing Diversity Metrics
Some public companies stand accused of hosting sham minority/diversity candidate interviews just to pad their ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) metrics and attract socially conscious investors.
A current lawsuit alleges Wells Fargo employees are instructed to interview “diverse” candidates with no intention of hiring them. One former manager called it “fake diversity” for show.
Vetting Carefully in a Tight Labor Market
Experts also link interview marathons to companies getting hyper selective in a talent shortage. With unemployment scraping record lows, employers sorting through floods of applicants seem to be taking their time vetting each one.
“The competition is fierce. Hiring managers want to bring multiple qualified candidates in to closely evaluate job skills and whether they’ll mesh with company culture,” explains human resources analyst Lisa Chen. “But overdoing interviews can mislead applicants and end up damaging the employer’s reputation.”
One Reddit commenter describes his frustrating experience going through a marathon interview process that they eventually realized was fake.
“This insurance firm courted me hard, offering a sky-high salary, big benefits package, and even stock options. On paper it looked dreamy,” he says. “But when I asked simple questions about why the job had sat open for over 7 months, they hemmed and hawed about not finding ‘the right fit.’ That was a major red flag to me.”
He played along for a bit before receiving a generic rejection letter praising his technical test performance – tests he never even completed. “Fifteen minutes in, I already knew that the advertised job didn’t exist,” he comments. “I told them as much in my reply.”
Applicant stories like his underscore the mounting frustration over misleading and dragged-out interview processes. Until more transparency improves, job seekers seem stuck in a demoralizing limbo.
Hedging Bets in Economic Uncertainty
Other experts link marathon interviews to employer risk aversion as economic uncertainty mounts. With high inflation and rising interest rates, hiring managers seem increasingly hesitant about committing to permanent hires, instead dragging out interviews to bide time and keep options open.
Rather than nix a candidate outright, keeping them warm in a lengthy interview process feels safer. But it wastes applicants’ time and breeds frustration.
A No-Win Dynamic for Job Seekers
Job hunters facing intensive, months-long interview gauntlets walk a difficult line. Withdrawing mid-process can torpedo their chances forever. Yet sinking copious time into a potentially dead-end outcome also carries big costs.
Workers seem stuck in this demoralizing dynamic until employers rein in excessive interview screenings and provide feedback on decisions.
Jumping through more hoops fails to improve job prospects, leaving applicants spinning their wheels.
