It is totally normal. Consider 1) recruiting needs an initial chat, to get you excited, do some light screening, and ensure comp expectations aren’t out of wha

It is totally normal. Consider 1) recruiting needs an initial chat, to get you excited, do some light screening, and ensure comp expectations aren’t out of whack 2) then the hiring manager has a screen 3) once the hiring manager likes you, then you need to conduct due diligence. As others have echoed, one interview can’t possibly probe on all the key aspects of the job. In our case, we look at growth potential, tactical experience, and 2 case interviews, usually one more qualitative and one more quantitative. So there’s 6 right there. At the end, you know several things: the candidate is aligned on comp, the hiring manager likes them, other people like them, they can do the job (as reasonably confident as you can be), and they have good upside potential. Hire! If you cut anything out, you have to sacrifice some aspect - maybe less confidence they can do the job etc. as others have echoed it’s actually hard to fire someone from a practical standpoint esp if they are not obviously terrible, or they’re willing to try. Better to just hold a high bar up front, to minimize risk on back end.