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MUMBAI: Call it over zealousness on the part of organisations to get it right each time they hire, the recruitment process has lengthened for mid- to senior-level roles with more interview rounds being thrown in, hiring experts said.

Over the last six months, even after multiple rounds of interviews, a pharma multinational is yet to close a position for a site head, said a search firm executive.

In another instance, a decision on the post of a country head at an MNC is pending despite the fact that the applicant in question has undergone multiple rounds of interviews and is said to be a “discerning candidate” from the company’s perspective.

Asales director’s role for a leading medical devices company, which has been cleared at the highest levels, too, is taking time to close, awaiting a final go ahead from the global headquarters.

Antal International managing partner Mayank Chandra said, “Interviews have gone up for mid- and upper mid-level positions. While CXO-level candidates always had to face multiple rounds, we observe that there has been a significant increase in interviews for mid-level profiles for senior managers and above.”

Given that middle management plays a key role in enabling objectives, organisations are including additional personal interactions apart from line manager and HR discussions for these levels.

Chandra said companies are in a wait-and-watch mode and are going through cautious expansion. “At the same time, while evaluating fresh candidates for a role, they don’t want to lose good talent. So, they keep them engaged by having multiple rounds of interviews. Also, risk is minimised when multiple people review the same candidate,” said Chandra.

The trend is to evaluate the maximum possible number of candidates available within a domain and sector before selecting the top two or three, and hiring the best among them. The reason is the tendency to play safe. According to TeamLease Services co-founder and executive VP Rituparna Chakraborty, organisations are realising that an interview is no more a reliable experience to identify a candidate who can perform to a role aligned with the specific company’s goals and culture.

