Recent web reports cite a Robert Half Finance & Accounting survey that says the most difficult part of the job-application process is the interview.

The survey says that 32 percent

of chief financial officers polled believe job applicants make more missteps at the interviewing stage than at any other.

These are the other places where you can put your foot in it:

• Résumé: 21 percent
• Cover letter: 9 percent
• Reference checks: 9 percent
• Interview follow-up: 7 percent
• Screening call: 6 percent
• Other: 2 percent
• Don't know/no answer: 14 percent

This all sounds very authoritative, but let's think about it. Top executives typically are not the ones to open the mail and screen the résumés. Other people (like me) do that. The stack of résumés that do not get to a department head is tall. It is my job to screen for them and we have frequent conversations about whether I am screening finely enough. When we interview people, a relatively high proportion of them get hired. That's the way things should work.

So, let's not misinterpret the survey. Most of the screening happens at the earliest rounds. Generally, your chances are better at each additional step. You have better odds in final-round interviews than you did at the beginning.