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I have a first interview with a firm that's out of town. I can't tell if it's mid-sized or large, but it has an SA program and pays market, so I consider it BigLaw. I'm meeting with 3 partners at this first interview. Is this a screener or the only interview? I assume it's a screener because I was not reimbursed with travel expenses. I guess I'm just surprised they didn't ask to do a Skype call or a telephone call screener instead, and am sort of wondering if this is going to be the only interview. It was also scheduled rather quickly.

This is probably relevant: I am an experienced attorney (still jr though).

Anonymous User wrote:I have a first interview with a firm that's out of town. I can't tell if it's mid-sized or large, but it has an SA program and pays market, so I consider it BigLaw. I'm meeting with 3 partners at this first interview. Is this a screener or the only interview? I assume it's a screener because I was not reimbursed with travel expenses. I guess I'm just surprised they didn't ask to do a Skype call or a telephone call screener instead, and am sort of wondering if this is going to be the only interview. It was also scheduled rather quickly.

This is probably relevant: I am an experienced attorney (still jr though).

it's hard to tell. ideally you treated it as if this is your only interview. this would have probably been something to ask at the end when they asked for your questions ("what are the next steps?", "what's the review process from here?", etc.)

I suspect it's somewhere in between but if you are meeting with three partners (and especially if one or more is on the hiring committee) you should assume that this will be your one and only day of interviews and they will make a decision based on that day alone. I think lateral interviews are less rigid though, so you may get called back to "meet more people" which would also be a good sign.