How Many Candidates Make it to the Final Interview in 2025?

Getting a yes to the job of your dreams requires a lot of hard work.

By hard work, I mean, having to go to a series of interviews that range from a one-on-one session with a hiring manager to facing a panel of executives that will grill you to the core.

If this is not enough, some job openings will involve a final deliberation–the most crucial of all interviews as this will decide the candidate best suitable for the position.

How Many Candidates Make it to the Final Interview in 2025?

We know for a fact that the job market is highly competitive. Hundreds of applicants put their CVs down the line, hoping to land the position you are also racing to get.

Out of the average number of people that apply for one job which is 118, only 3 candidates make it to the final interview.

And, in a highly selective environment, the company could even trim this down to two.

This means that only the best of the best make it to the final round. As they say, survival of the fittest is most evident in the workforce.

Such an application-to-final interview ratio proves just that.

How Many Job Interviews Before One Gets the Job?

On average, it takes between two to three meetings with the hiring manager before a candidate gets approval for a job.

However, it is still on a case-to-case basis. More often, entry-level positions are less demanding.

This is why many employers give a hiring decision right after their first meeting, and this usually takes just between 45 minutes to an hour’s worth of talk.

It is safe to say that the more demanding a role’s responsibilities are, the more interviews they require.

According to Indeed.com, mid-level positions do two job interviews on average, while senior-level positions can require up to three.

In all of these situations, a company has the discretion to request one final interview with two remaining candidates vying for the position.

If the first choice backs down from the offer for some reason, the second candidate will be offered the spot.

Number of Job Interviews and Their Correlation to Hiring Success

Both the applicant and the employer invest time, energy, and resources going through the interview processes.

While this means getting it right the first meeting will save on a lot of costs, this is not economic in the long term.

What if your first choice during the initial meeting turns out to be not the most suitable for the role you are offering? Both parties will carry the burden later on.

That’s why a series of job interviews are highly encouraged–they winnow ones that do not meet the standards.

The more interviews one manages to move past from, the higher the chance of getting hired.

Studies show that applicants who manage to secure one job interview have close to 37% chance of hearing a job offer from their interviewer.

Meanwhile, the stakes are higher as we move along. Someone who go through three interviews for one open position have 51% of getting the job.

This means that people who have made it until the third stage of the interview process have half of the odds on their side to get a yes.

Types of Job Interviews Before the Final Interview

As discussed, the final interview is the ultimate decision maker and could make or break the course of one’s career.

But before candidates reach this stage, they have to undergo different types of interviews that test their mental, emotional, social, and overall capacities and suitability for the role.

Initial interview – is the first stage in every hiring process. Upon reviewing applicants’ CVs and other requirements, those in the shortlist get the chance to meet the hiring manager one-on-one.

In this phase, first impression lasts. One has to show how they stand out against all other applicants in a span of an hour.

Panel interview – this type of interview can be nerve-wracking, as you will face a panel of judges and each one has prepared a series of question for you.

On the upside, the panel interview will also show your ability to be social and to impress different kinds of people with diverse personalities and backgrounds.

Other types of interview focus on behavioral assessment which will test your decision-making skills and ability to solve problems.

How Long Does an Interview Process Last?

There is no question that the entire interview process is long and arduous. Each stage trims applicants to save on time.

Still, the average time consumed for all interviews in one open position is three weeks to four weeks.

Some countries require less time while others take longer. For example in India, the whole series of interviews take only 16 days on average.

While in a country like Brazil, the same deliberation lasts for almost twice as India, lasting for 39 days at the fastest.

What to Do After the Final Interview?

After completing meetings with a prospective employer, an applicant is at risk of anxiety that comes with waiting for the result.

Some employers take time to decide since they have more important things to prioritize that are crucial in their respective business operations.

Harvard Business Review suggests that applicants and employers are not in the same level of urgency after completing the final interview.

What one should avoid is sounding like a pushover, which could immediately take your chance off the job.

Here are the some of the things that you can do after the final interview:

• Thank your prospective employers for their time and express your clear intention about how much you want the job
• Send supporting materials such as news articles and journals that is relevant to their business operations to make them understand that you want to be of help to their operations
• Revert to your normal functioning and try not to think about the outcome as much as possible
• Never stop seeking for new opportunities. Making it to the final interview is a huge plus to one’s ego, but you still have a huge chance of not getting the job. The best way to overcome a rut is to actively pursue other opportunities while waiting on the result

Conclusion

Only three candidates get to reach the last stage of the interview process.

Ironically, it is during this phase when you are already competing with just one or two other applicants that the risk of getting rejected spikes.

After doing your part and conducting due diligence, Harvard Business Review recommends that one should not stop seeking for new job opportunities with other companies.

This way, you can calm your anxiety while having so many options waiting for your yes later on. You call the shots. Always do your best and the best of luck!

Thanks for reading our article on how many candidates are usually shortlisted for final interview.

Sources

Indeed	Legal Jobs	Interview Area
HBR	TLNT