Six interview rounds is lazy hiring!

We've all been through interview processes that feel like interrogation. Interview after interview, at some point you start thinking "is this really worth it?". That's unfortunately the point.

And no I'm not talking about six people in a room at once or even 4-5 interviews in a single day. I'm talking about 6 separate steps. Recruiter call, technical screen, hiring manager interview, culture interview, VP interview, HR sign-off. Six different calendar invites. Six rounds of prep. Six chances for the company to ghost you.

And everyone just seems to accept it.

The absurdity olympics:

You want to know my favorite example of this? Entry level analyst. Needs to meet with a VP from a completely different department — different function, different floor, probably different building — to confirm they're "the right fit."

For an entry level role.

The VP is never going to interact with this person. Couldn't tell you what they do on a daily basis. But sure, let's get their sign-off.

That's not a hiring process. That's a company that has no idea what it's doing and is covering itself with meetings.

Why does this happen?

Most of these extra steps exist for one reason — so that when a hire goes wrong, nobody is personally responsible.

If twelve people signed off on a candidate, nobody made the call. Which means nobody takes the blame. Which means you can add a seventh round and call it "being thorough."

And when a hiring team can't align after four conversations with a candidate — that's not a candidate problem. That's a company problem. It means you didn't agree on what good looked like before you started interviewing. So now you're just adding steps and hoping the answer reveals itself.

It won't.

Jobseeker's responsibility:

And look, candidates — I love you but we need to talk. Because y'all keep doing it.

Every time you complete step five without saying a word, you're telling companies this is fine. And I get it, the market is rough right now. But your strongest candidates — the ones with actual options — they're dropping out of these processes. So who's making it to round six? People who had no other choice.

And then companies wonder why their hires don't work out.

So what should you the job seeker do?

So if you're a candidate stuck in one of these right now, here's what I'd tell you.

After round three, ask what's left. Not aggressively — just "hey, can you walk me through the remaining steps and the timeline?" A good recruiter tells you immediately. A bad one gets cagey — and now you know something important about how that company operates.

If they tell you there are two more steps, ask what each one is covering that the previous rounds didn't. Watch what happens. Sometimes there's a real answer. Sometimes you'll watch someone make something up in real time.

And if they ghost you after six rounds — that's not an accident. That's who they are.

Six step interview processes aren't thorough. They're a company that hasn't done the work to know what they want, making you do the work instead.

Don't shoot yourself in the foot chasing a process that doesn't respect your time. Ask the questions. Pay attention to the answers. And if a company can't tell you why they need six steps to make a decision — You already have your answer.