I recently applied for a customer support position online and took the initiative to reach out to the director of customer support via LinkedIn. We discovered that we live in the same city, and she kindly mentioned that she would pass my information along to the recruiter. Shortly after, I received an email from a senior recruiter inviting me to meet directly with the hiring manager for an interview. This was surprising since I hadn't gone through a recruiter screening first. My interview is scheduled for Wednesday morning. I'm curious if it's common for candidates to skip the recruiter screen and go straight to the hiring manager. I wonder if my connection with the director had any influence on this process or if it varies by company. Any insights from recruiters would be appreciated!