I was contacted by the prospective direct manager, whom I had worked with a few years earlier. We had several telephone discussions resulting in an in-person interview with the direct manager and the senior manager. Expected questions were asked and a few surprise questions, such as ".... ultimately, what is the deciding factor whether a candidate is hired?" and some soft-ball, open ended questions to gage how I think on my feet. Thereafter, the direct manager called me to review the in-person interview and if I wanted to proceed, followed by typical HR telephone conversations.