Hiring the right people is critical to the success of your business, especially for jobs in private wealth management. But it’s hard to know how many interviews are needed to find the best candidates. A study by Harvard Business Review (HBR) shows that most companies interview top-level candidates four to five times, but this can cost a lot.

This article looks at how to get the balance right between testing candidates properly and not spending too much time and money on hiring.

The Interview Rounds Debate

Having several interviews helps companies to fully understand a candidate’s skills, knowledge, and how well they would fit in. According to HBR, companies that hold three to four interviews are happier with the people they hire.

But if there are too many interviews, candidates might get tired and lose interest in the job. They could even go to a competitor instead. The Wall Street Journal also says that long interview processes can put people off and states that employers are taking nearly twice as long to hire people as they did several years ago, with an average of 23 days to screen and hire new employees, up from 13 days in 2010.

Pros and Cons of Multiple Interview Rounds

Having more than one interview gives you the chance to see candidates in different ways, get different opinions from interviewers, and make a better choice.

Lots of interviews can help wealth management divisions check candidates’ skills, motivation, and how well they fit in. They can look at the candidate from different angles.

But scheduling lots of interviews can take a lot of time and cost a lot of money. Trying to fill a position for a long time can also cost money because of lost work in the role. That’s why finding the right balance is critical.

Alternative Ways to Test Candidates

Other ways of testing candidates can help private wealth divisions get the balance right between thoroughness and efficiency. Using job simulations and practical tests can be a good way to check a candidate’s abilities. These methods can be used alongside the normal interview process to understand a candidate’s skills better.

Making the Interview Process Better

HR experts can make the interview process more efficient from the start. First, they can be clear about what the job involves and test candidates against this from the beginning. This makes sure that the assessment is focused.

Second, having interviews with standard questions makes sure everyone is treated the same and can be compared fairly. According to the Harvard Business Review, this helps to reduce bias and make the candidate screening process better. These assessments can help wealth management divisions to test candidates’ understanding of the stock market, how to manage a portfolio and financial planning. Some of the questions can be based on real-life situations, so they can see how a candidate would deal with a real client.

Success Stories

Some firms have made their interview processes shorter while still testing candidates properly.

Google used to have over 12 interviews for candidates. But after studying this, they found that after four interviews, they were 86% sure about a candidate. And 94% of the time, the decision didn’t change, whether there were 4, 8, or 12 interviews. So they found that more than four interviews can make candidates tired, leading to a “rule of four”.

Goldman Sachs used a standard interview process with set questions to test candidates more efficiently. This helped them find the best talent, improving their hiring decisions and how the company performs.

Conclusion

Deciding on the right number of interview rounds is really important for getting the balance right between testing candidates thoroughly and hiring efficiently in competitive private wealth management.

HR professionals can make the interview process better by thinking about the pros and cons, trying out different ways to test candidates, and making the interview process better.

The way interviews are done should be designed to find and hire the best talent quickly in the private wealth market.

The Anderson Search Group is a reliable partner in finding the best talent for your organization. Contact us for personal service and useful information on our recruitment process and industry trends.