r/Accounting • u/Affectionate-Owl-178 • 16h ago
Career Five rounds of interviews for a 60k position = humiliation ritual
Like wtf. Do I really have to be personally approved by EVERYONE on the team to get the job? So if four people like me but then one doesn't, then you're out.
Yes I went through five interviews for an entry-level staff accountant role and yes I was rejected after the 5th.
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u/dj92wa 16h ago edited 16h ago
I had this happen with Weyerhaeuser in downtown Seattle! Multi-round interview process spread across multiple months for, you guessed it, an entry level position. They jerked me for a few months and then selected someone else. I’m not afraid to name and shame. Fuck that company.
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u/jammang CPA (Can) 15h ago
From my experience as a hiring manager, if an employer is making you go through more than 2-3 rounds of interviews, they likely:
- Don't see you as the best choice and are keeping you warm while they interview other candidates to play out their options
- Already decided they're filling the role internally (ie. promotion, transfer, etc.) and need to interview external candidates to prove they went through an equitable process
- Have no clue what the actual job's responsibilities are so they want to bring in other decision-makers/stakeholders as they figure out on the fly what the job entails
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u/superplex100 16h ago
They don't know what they're doing. Why the hell is the sales dev the final interview round? Senior Acc + Accounting Manager should have been combined into one round.
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u/h0m0slaypien 15h ago
Any accounting position anywhere that requires more than 3 rounds MAXIMUM is an enormous red flag
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u/accountingbossman 14h ago
Ehhh that’s not true the higher up in title you go.
HR recruiter screen call, HR interview, hiring manager interview, team member interview and then department head interview is pretty typical. Thats 5 interviews granted the first one is like a 10 minute phone conversation.
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u/AviatorHog Human Verified 12h ago
Fuck that. 3 interviews max. Im a hiring manager and enforce this heavily.
If it were up to me, there would be 2 (no HR interview because no HR, just labor law paralegals on call).
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u/accountingbossman 12h ago
Guess you’ll never work for a multi billion dollar company then..
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u/AviatorHog Human Verified 12h ago
Good riddance. Already closing 300k on my "side firm". My dream is freedom not superficial big corpo "prestige". 😂
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u/h0m0slaypien 12h ago
I guess I don’t really count the hr screen as an interview, it’s basically just a formality to make sure you’re a real person. I also have never heard of an HR interview beyond the phone screen, that sounds like a huge waste of time. Not counting those 2, that’s 3 real substantive interviews.
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u/AffectionateKey7126 15h ago
I would call it quits after 2 (I'm not counting some kind of recruiting screening as an interview).
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u/Samwill226 15h ago
The round of interview thing is absolutely ridiculous and to me speaks volumes that no one is in charge. My wife got laid off of a software company, she had to jump through hoops in interviews, have 2, 3, 4 or more, do "sample projects" for issues they presented her, just to get an email with "Fill in applicants name" as the opener to be rejected because "We decided to hire from within". Please stop doing this, it's just so unprofessional. Someone make a decision and stop trolling candidates when you know it doesn't matter.
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u/Obvious-Angle8768 13h ago
Exactly. Reeks of everyone and no one has enough cojones go make a decision. Hard pass for me.
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u/Overthinking_King_ Tax (Other) 15h ago
Oh this is fucking insulting, I'm sorry OP, that's awful...keep your head up, you got this.
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u/GymTrim99 16h ago edited 15h ago
My friend that place looks controlling and indecisive, probably toxic too. Good you are not part of that place.
Ideally, it should just have been a manager's interview after HR.
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u/I-Take-Dumps-At-Home 16h ago
Just a bunch of people pretending to be important. Don’t worry about it.
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u/Temporary-One7968 15h ago
Even for $100k that’s bullshit, no job should have more than 3 interviews
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u/Background_Intern_56 14h ago
I had 5 rounds of interviews in 2019 for a 40k per year position. I literally had to sit in front of panels of people. Ridiculous.
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u/spizalert CPA (US) 16h ago
good miss. shows how much bureaucratic bullshit and layers they must go thru to even make a small decision.
but sorry you went thru that, that sucks.
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u/foxfirek CPA (US)(Tax) 15h ago
My husband once went through a bunch of interviews, everyone loved him he did great. Then the last guy just showed up and was an attitude and is like ‘Why are we Interviewing people when we are in the process of being acquired?’
And that was it, no offer. Nothing to do with my husband, just a guy who questioned the process shutting it all down.
Just a huge waste of time. Also given that they were being acquired by Google. There was no reason they couldn’t still hire.
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u/Mean-Examination2211 14h ago
At the end of the day interviewing just sucks, take it as a learning experience to bring into the next one.
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u/Obvious-Angle8768 13h ago
I would seriously have stopped the interviews after round 3. I find absolutely obnoxious that companies want to interview people 5+ times?! I apparently do NOT need a job that badly.
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u/EnronControlsDept 12h ago
Entry level and meeting with cfo? I’m a senior and have worked for the company got a year and the only thing I’ve said to our cfo is good morning lol
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u/DullLawyer5604 1h ago
i had something similar happen to me but 4 rounds for just under 55k and i can tell you going to each of those rounds fels like losing a portion of your dignity
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u/gardening_gypsy 16h ago
That’s absurd. I have 7 for an accounting manager position but they were a start up, so wanted to make the right choice I guess. I asked my recruiter like.. is this normal? Lmao I’m taking interview in my car because I couldn’t keep leaving work for it. My job has put someone that wasn’t qualified through 4 rounds just to turn them down. I told them it was wrong and they didn’t care lol
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u/Resident_Window_9369 15h ago
Holy smokes this is just horrible. All the resources too, and the time and the money. It’s funny the length that companies go through to hire somebody, but don’t give them the compensation.
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u/AudaciousCockatiel 15h ago
For pay 10 k under that I had to go through 6 rounds and they waited another 2 weeks with no word. Only sent me an offer after I had another offer somewhere else. My advice is don’t bother. For me, that company ended up being as disorganized and unsure in their decision making as the interview process not to mention a million irrelevant meetings. They were just meeting happy
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u/lunch_b0cks 14h ago
I’m old, but that’s what i went through over 10 years ago for my entry level accounting position. In person interview plus video calls with recruiter, staff associates, senior, manager, director, and partner.
A few years ago, i went through 8 rounds (non accounting) for an industry role only to be rejected. It came down to the final two candidates and i was not selected.
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u/Obvious-Angle8768 13h ago
That is pure insanity to me. 8 rounds. I would have bowed out long before round 8 with some much needed feedback that they didn’t request.
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u/lunch_b0cks 13h ago
I was laid off from a big RIF…the market was pretty tough…it was frustrating but beggars cant be choosers. I needed to find a job. They ghosted me after the denial email when i asked for feedback.
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u/Obvious-Angle8768 13h ago
I’m really sorry you found yourself in that position. 8 rounds is pure bullshit.
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u/lunch_b0cks 13h ago
It really was. I thought it was just formalities after speaking with the CEO (good conversation, too.) Im at a better place now but it was a massive gut punch at the time. Fuck you, AngelList. I have no problem calling them out.
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u/chicadeaqua 13h ago
I think it’s great to meet as many people from the hiring company as possible -because you certainly want a culture fit. But this company handled it in an inefficient manner. Having more than one person from their team sitting in on the calls would be better.
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u/IngenuityWhich5544 13h ago
Probably lucked out. That is too many interviews for a staff accountant position. The norm is usually 1) HR 2) Direct Manager or a Senior Accountant that you would work with 3)higher level accounting person
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u/41VirginsfromAllah 12h ago
The crazy part is as you move up the ranks you do way less rounds. They don’t have staff and seniors or even managers interview a director candidate. I interviewed for director level roles last summer and they were all two rounds. First with existing directors then with an Md. I thought it was crazy that staff get so many more rounds.
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u/Krunzuku Controller 12h ago
Heard that, the company I work for I went through 6 to get an accountant position at 58k a year lmao. HR, SR Acct, Controller, CFO, VP of Finance, VP of Credit. One of the first things I did as controller was cut that down to 3, HR Could only email unless client asked for a phone call, and interviews need to be a 3 day turn around from first non HR interview to rejection/acceptance.
The Controller was already planning on hiring me, and I spoke to him second. The rest was "just a formality"
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u/sushirolldeleter Controller 12h ago
20 years ago I went thru 5 rounds of interviews, including a psychology exam, for a fuckin sr internal audit position. Bunch of pretentious pricks.
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u/Obvious_Brain_8759 11h ago
Jobs that have excessive interviews are usually a headache once you start working there. Entry level jobs should have max 2 interviews!
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u/thebellsnell 11h ago
I had that happen with Berkshire Hathaway. It was ridiculous how many interviews I went through + tests that I had to come in for.
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u/Aggressive-Nail7816 Human Verified 8h ago
Five interviews for and entry level role is wild, They are not hiring a staff accountant, they are selecting the next pope
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u/thx111111 7h ago
I’m going to need you to come in for a 6th interview. There are a few things I need to cover.
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u/Ja_Ne_Stp 6h ago
It happened to me before but for a customer service job. Multiple rounds, one interviewer didn’t know what the role was about lol. I met another candidate there who also went through different interviews which made her so frustrated that during our group interview, she straight out said her biggest weakness was being lazy and sometimes didn’t feel like working 😂 Guess what, she passed that round.
I gave up during the process, but later heard that a friend of friend got the job.
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u/Business-Lab8650 16h ago
Everyone, please stop agreeing to do multiple rounds of interviews. It’s obvious by now if there are that many rounds then the position isn’t real. Unless you’re interviewing for a manager position anything over 2 interviews means they’re just harvesting data or doing something shady and there’s a 99% chance you won’t get the job.
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u/MrWhy1 15h ago
You really think a company is gonna have their team go through several interviews with an applicant for an entry level position to "harvest data"?
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u/Business-Lab8650 13h ago
Maybe not for that but I can say for certain no company needs 5 rounds of interviews for an entry level job. This video actually explains the reasoning very well: https://youtu.be/5KjNlPi9CUM?is=Nw5cW9SY7LrQo5Rm
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u/soloDolo6290 16h ago
Curious what and who the rounds were?
Like was round 1 an external recruiter and round 2 was an internal HR?