I've worked as a software engineer in the US since 2013 and have gone through 12 interview loops in my career. At a typical tech firm, the SWE interview loop co

I've worked as a software engineer in the US since 2013 and have gone through 12 interview loops in my career. At a typical tech firm, the SWE interview loop consists of: 1 recruiter screen: discussing background with recruiter to make sure your experience is relevant 1-2 phone screens: technical interviews with a SWE to see if it's worthwhile to bring you on site 4-6 on-site interviews: combination of technical and behavior interview sessions I think product management loops will be similar in terms of length, and so 7 interviews is maybe on the long side but not atypical. PM interviews may include a "take-home project" component before the on-site where you e.g. build a slide deck; this is uncommon for SWE interviews. Regarding the question "When did a hiring manager lose their authority and the trust of the organization to do their job?", it is very common (and a good idea in my opinion) for interview loops to mostly consist of people who are not on the hiring team. Typically the only future teammate you will see in an interview is the hiring manager (this is not guaranteed; I met my current manager when I started my job). The idea is to have the same bar for all roles at the company instead of inconsistent hiring quality team-by-team.