> Can I just talk to the folks I'll potentially be working with / for right away? No? Why?
No! As many applicants as possible should be rejected before we start interrupting these people's days.
You might be a great candidate but what about the other 10 doofuses who aren't? Do they all get to talk to the folks they'll potentially be working with/for right away?
Same – when I look in the mirror in the morning to shave lol!
Whether you agree w/ the filtering or not, you want people who you aren't willing to hire (and who won't be willing to work for you) to be removed from the process as quickly and cheaply as reasonably possible.
This is why phone screens with a single person who has a general idea of what to look for exist. The key is that this person receives feedback on future interviews and their decisions and can make adjustments to exclude/include the right people.
My belief on this is that if that person isn't being told, "You let a bad one through" occasionally, they're being too strict on filtering, for example. But you don't want to hear that too often.
Think about somebody rejecting a job offer.
In most cases, many hours of people-time will be invested and wasted when this happens. So look at why was it wasted? Was salary, a company policy, benefits, or something similar a dealbreaker? If so, start bring that thing up earlier on – either in that first phone screen or ideally in an email before the first phone screen.
Of course, you're not always going to get a clear answer so this is where instinct and experimentation come into play. This is also why it pays to have a single person specialize in the phone screens – they will get many reps and opportunities to develop that intuition.
No! As many applicants as possible should be rejected before we start interrupting these people's days.
You might be a great candidate but what about the other 10 doofuses who aren't? Do they all get to talk to the folks they'll potentially be working with/for right away?