On the news, you might hear that the economy is recovering and as proof of this fact, they point to the extremely large number of job vacancies. Still, many people are going on second, third and even fourth interviews and aren't getting job offers. Are the reporters lying or is there another problem? If this has been your experience, it's not all in your head. It seems that employers are dragging their feet during the hiring process, determined to find the most qualified candidate – even if it means leaving a job open for a long period of time.
As the job market recovers, many companies are taking longer than ever to fill vacant positions. According to a recent report at the New York Times, the average company advertising a job opening is taking longer than 23 business days to fill the position. When they looked into why this was happening, they found that the problem wasn't that there weren't enough skilled applicants. The problem was that the companies don't have any sort of incentive to hire new employees right away and instead, they are content to wait until they find the perfect match.
It's an employer's market, and most hiring mangers feel confident that if they wait long enough, they will find an applicant who is an exact match for the position and who has the precise skills and experience they are looking for. In addition, while business is improving, many companies are worried that the economy will stall and they will be on the hook for the additional expense. Instead of jumping in, they are taking the “wait and see” approach.
In fact, according to Glassdoor, the average interview and hiring process for major retailers has more than doubled since 2010. This means that even for entry or low-level jobs, being asked to interview multiple times is becoming more and more common. In the Times article, they spoke with a man who said that he had interviewed with the same company more than six times. He had been to the office so many times that the security guard fussed at him for not bringing his employee ID. Because he had seen the man so many times, the guard incorrectly assumed that he was already working for the company.
Going through several rounds of interviews only to find that the company has decided to leave the position unfilled can be disheartening. There is so much work that goes into preparing for interview after interview that losing the job to no one can feel almost like a slap in the face.
One of the reasons that it's so easy for employers to simply wait is that they aren't in a rush to hire. Because of the tight job market, their current employees are more than willing to take on extra work without demanding additional pay. They have cut back on employee compensation, raises and bonuses and their employees are working harder than ever. Without a pile of work that urgently needs to be done, there is little motivation to hurry up and get a new person on board.
Not only are additional interviews frustrating for job seekers, they can be expensive. The cost of dry cleaning, transportation, lunch or snacks in addition to the time away from their current jobs, their families or their job searches. Although there's no clear answer to this problem, all job seekers can do is hope that all their effort will pay off in the end.
Have you been through several rounds of interviews without getting a job offer? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.
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