In a market where highly qualified talents are rare, some companies continue to impose on candidates an extension recruitment course, such as an initiation ritual supposed to prove their value. But behind this succession of interviews, does it hide a real evaluation process or an admission of managerial uncertainty?
Eight cumulative hours, seven distinct stages, six different interlocutors : This recruitment process could pass for the exception of a scrupulous firm. However, it has become the standard in certain companies, especially in marketing or general management. In this specific case, a candidate must successively face: a 45 -minute screening, an in -depth interview with a recruitment firm, two strategic interviews with the leading heads (Managing Director then President), a passage in front of the Board, a session with the operational team, and a final “oral”. Total: seven stages, not to mention the round trips of Agenda and silent validations.
The cult of cross validation
This type of process reflects less a requirement of excellence than Systematic need for collective validationoften disproportionate to the real issue of the post. “It is a disguised precautionary mechanics. By dint of wanting to avoid a casting error, we end up losing the best profiles along the way, “observes Jacques Froissant, founder of Altaide
Classic justifications – “We must involve everyone”, “it’s a strategic position”, “culture is essential” – often mask a raw reality: The company has not decided on the profile sought or her Lack of clear leadership in the selection process.
Boomerang effect: loss of attractiveness
These extension processes generate a perverse effect: The best candidates withdrew in silence. According to a 2023 study by Greenhouse, 52 % of talents questioned believe that a process of more than 4 steps is a negative signal on corporate culture. And 1 in 3 candidate admits having abandoned a process because of its length or complexity.
“The top profiles don’t have time. They select the companies that select them quickly ”. In other words, a too long process is not a guarantee of quality: it is a Organizational ineffectiveness indicator.
The illusion of “big oral”
The last step in the process – the very formal “large oral” – crystallizes all ambiguities. Poorly defined, often improvised, this ritual consists in submitting the candidate to a final test in front of an arrangement of leaders. But What we evaluate is no longer the skills, but the ability to perform under pressure in an artificial format. Result: perception biases, emotional decisions, and sometimes the rejection of atypical but highly efficient profiles.
What if the problem was internally?
One such segmented process asks another question: why can’t the company manage to decide earlier? This often reflects a lack of initial framing, or a too diluted governance. Each hierarchical level seeks to validate, even to “cover yourself”, without anyone daring to fully take responsibility for the choice.
“The right process is the one that quickly identifies weak signals and makes a conscientious decision. Not the one who multiplies filters until exhaustion ”
Shorten does not mean rush
Should we however sacrifice the rigor on the altar of speed? No. But an effective process is based on Three fundamental ::
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- a Claire post sheet and validated from the start,
- of the Structured and complementary interviews,,
- a assumed decision -makingwithout looking for unanimous validation.
Ideal? Three to five stagesincluding an HR exchange, a business discussion, a concrete situation (case or presentation), and an interview of cultural fit. Everything else is more of the managerial theater than a real potential assessment.
An excess of interview signs decision -making poverty
By dint of wanting to “involve everyone” and “not to be mistaken”, some companies end up scareing away the profiles they were targeting. In a world where the scarcity of qualified talents is a strategic issue, it is time to stop confusing requirement and paralysis. Managerial courage is also to know how to decide quickly – well.
