This sounds dreadful, on the positive side I had very enjoyable interview rounds in places like Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers (obviously this was a few years ago), 3 or 4 interviews hour long plus depending on if they were before or after work. These tested what I new, how I would approach things, and giving me a very good view of the people that worked there from more junior devs, architects and management in the teams I would be working in and those around it.
The best interviews aren't scripted but are created from around the interviewers expertise but based on the skills and qualities needed for the role.
Quite honestly, I am torn. The best jobs I had so far involved multiple interviews (Amazon with a total of 6 one hour interviews and my current employer with 7, the jury is still out on my current job one month in), the worst involved either one or two interviews or multiple, but very easy and yet unpleasant ones. Scripted questions suck, Amazon in my case was good, as there was only on scripted logical question and the rest was STAR-style leadership principles centered questions.
Multiple rounds give you more opportunities to ask questions to multiple people and get a better idea of the company. They can also be a pain in the ass.
Exactly that. I often interview people as part of the team. We have normally one HR person, the team lead and one of the team present.
More often than not I give my spot to a more junior team member if they are available. So that they learn something from watching the interview as well as "just" see if the person interviewed would be a cultural fit. If they could imagine working with them.
The best interviews aren't scripted but are created from around the interviewers expertise but based on the skills and qualities needed for the role.