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Is this a new trend? The past couple lateral interviews I’ve done, I have spoken to the head partner of the practice and the recruiting manager. I unfortunately did not get an offer from either so I don’t know what the next steps would be.

I usually only spoke to recruiting during a callback (15-20 minute slot usually) so it is just weird that recruiting would take time to talk to all screeners.

A friend mentioned thinks that it may just be their form of a callback (the groups I’m interviewing with are very small (1–3 people with usually only one partner)). I still think they’d want to do a full round, but who knows. Just curious if anyone has any insight.

I don't think it's unusual for the recruiting manager to screen candidates before partners/the practice group take time to interview you - especially if it's a high demand job (getting 20 resumes vs. 2), or if they are pretty sure you don't have the experience they're looking for but they want to make sure before they take you out of the running. And I've done 15 minute screeners with practice group heads before having a more full day of interviews, just to make sure that I have the experience they need before they bother to bring me in and take a significant amount of time with me. If you aren't getting past the screeners, then it may be worth thinking about why (lack of experience? interview skills?), and getting a friend or someone to do a mock screener with you to see if there's anything you need to fix.

Thanks for the feedback. I wanted to clarify that these interviews are clumped so I interview with the recruiter immediately before or after the head partner.

I’m trying to lateral fairly quickly after lateraling in, so I know that that is a big red flag for some firms. I don’t necessarily think it is my interviewing skills, but I’ll check that out.