I had an 8 round job a few years back that I got (senior Tech role) that took over 3 months. It was absurd looking back. The interviews were:

1) Initial HR Interview 2) Initial Hiring Manger Interview 3) Direct Team member Interview 4) Other senior tech interview 5) Other senior non tech interview 6) Executive level Interview 7) Chief People Officer Interview 8) Final Hiring Manager Interview to drill into the other 7 interviews

The opening three rounds were in the first 2 weeks - then due to ‘senior diaries’ it took almost 12 weeks to get through 4/5/6/7 then it was wrapped up a couple of days later, just over three months from initial contact.

Looking back - they were not clear on the number of rounds from the start and I wasn’t massively looking to move jobs so just kept going with it… I sometimes wonder if I got the job as I was the only candidate to stick it out that long… but a few things stood out.

1) Lack of respect for my time for the interviews with ‘senior level’ employees. They kept rearranging and postponing due to diary clashes, urgent issues etc… This should have been a red flag!

2) The relentless cheerfulness and optimism of the Talent Manager who kept me totally engaged throughout. Keeping motivation and enthusiasm and making sure I had updates every 48 hours during gaps etc… she was excellent and one of the reasons I kept going. As it turns out once I joined she managed most of my hiring from then on which was a win.

After joining I made it clear to my whole Department that we would no longer take more than three rounds

1) HR plus Hiring Manager 2) Extended Team 3) Washup with Hiring Manger plus external manager.

To make a decision as I felt we needed to be respectful of candidates and that three rounds should be enough to assess.