Why is the first round the bottleneck in high-volume hiring?
Every later stage of a hiring process handles a shortlist, while the first round handles everyone. When each first conversation needs a recruiter on a live call, the number of applicants a team can hear is capped by calendar hours, scheduling back-and-forth, no-shows and time zones. Something gives: screens get shorter, some applicants are judged on a résumé alone, and the candidate booked late on a Friday gets a more tired hearing than the one booked on a Tuesday morning.
