You'll never have the same job interview experience twice. And here's why.

Image credit: Andrew Loke

No two recruitment procedures are the same. Some may only require one interview. More often, there are two or three stages. If you’re an experienced lawyer or other professional thinking of joining an investment bank or a US law firm, however, it can be anything between four to ten stages. 

It’s not designed specifically to test your endurance and patience, though of course that’s what it may seem if you’re going through this, and in fact that’s the inevitable side effect of such system. 

Rather, it’s more a reflection of the business culture that has evolved from these organisations. In other instances, it’s a product of the regulatory or internal corporate governance regime.  More stakeholders from different business lines to meet. 

But that brings with it logistical issues, as said organisations are likely to have stakeholders who are often overseas on business, or in fact live and work overseas and are required to fly in to meet you. In addition to managing your own time to attend those interviews, often at short notice, it can take weeks between interviews.  

So, yes, patience is required. If you really really really want that job, you’ll need to grit your teeth, smile and answer the same question for the 8th time like it was the first.

This post was first published by the writer on LinkedIn.