Financial services hiring is weighted towards senior, qualified talent, and that shapes how your interview process should run. In its Temporary Shortage List work, the Stage 2 report found that recruitment in the sector was generally for Regulatory Qualification Framework (RQF) 6+ roles, rather than RQF 3-5 roles GOV.UK - Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report. In plain terms, RQF 6+ sits at degree level and above, so firms are chasing experienced, credentialed people rather than entry-level hires.
When the demand sits at the senior end, the people you want are rarely idle. They are often in work, selectively looking, and quick to disengage from a process that drags. That reality is the starting point for any benchmark: your stages need to respect the time of people who have options.
The concentration of hiring around RQF 6+ roles, as set out by the Stage 2 report, tells you two things GOV.UK - Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report. First, you are usually assessing proven competence and regulatory knowledge, not raw potential. Second, the pool of people who clear that bar is smaller, so every extra stage raises the risk that someone strong accepts another offer before you reach a decision.
A sensible benchmark for most regulated finance roles is two to three substantive stages: an initial screen, a technical or competency interview, and a final conversation covering fit, values and any regulatory checks. More than that, and you should be able to name exactly what each extra round tells you that the earlier ones did not.
Start by mapping your current process end to end. Count the stages, the people involved and the elapsed time from application to offer. Then test each step against one question: what signal does this give us that we cannot get another way? If the answer is thin, the stage is one to remove.
Benchmarking is not a one-off. Review your stages each quarter against the roles you are filling and the feedback you get from people who dropped out. If strong applicants withdraw late, that is a clear signal your process is longer than the market will tolerate.
We search 15 million candidates and return a ranked shortlist in under 30 seconds, so you spend your interview stages on people who already match the brief rather than on sorting applications. For regulated finance roles, that means your two to three rounds carry more signal and move faster. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. If you want to benchmark and tighten your finance hiring, start a role with Reed.ai today.
