Excessive interview rounds, not AI tools, are breaking the hiring process in 2026
By
By Virginia Backaitis
Summary
The article examines the worsening state of hiring in 2026, arguing that the core problem isn't AI tools but the bloated interview process itself. Companies are demanding excessive rounds of interviews (3-6+), personality and skills assessments, culture interviews, leadership interviews, and even projects or presentations. The author uses data to show that hiring has become unnecessarily arduous, and that adding more AI-powered software won't fix a fundamentally broken process driven by manager demands and risk aversion.
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Key quotes
· 3 pulledIt seems like every company wants 3-6 interviews, personality assessments, skills assessments, culture interviews, leadership interviews and sometimes even projects or presentations.
All the AI-infused hiring software in the world won't fix recruiting's current problem, because the problem isn't the tools. It's the process itself.
Managers are demanding too many interviews. They not only want candidates to jump through hoops — they're adding more hoops for them to jump through.
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