Marathon interviews on the rise

The Graduate Recruitment Bureau has condemned interviews lasting longer than it takes to run a marathon.

The Bureau performed a survey of more than 500 newly qualified or final-year graduates and found that over 25 per cent of candidates have to endure interviews that are up to two or more hours long, with 7% saying interviews lasted for two-three hours, and 7% ran for more than three hours.

Dan Hawes, co-founder of the Graduate Recruitment Bureau said: “In these difficult times, candidates probably feel they have no choice but to endure whatever interviewing techniques are thrown at them.”

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The news comes on the same day as the CBI and recruitment agency Harvey Nash announced its first ‘encouraging signs’ of a rise in graduate recruitment. A year ago nearly two-thirds of companies had a recruitment freeze in place. This fell to 37% six months ago and it is currently 5%.

The outsourcing company MITIE, announced it was launching its first-ever graduate leadership programme, expecting 10 graduates to join this year.