Well, you kind of hit the nail on the head. Key word, managers. Having VP level or Executives interview anybody who isn't working directly for them is a waste of their time, and taking up capacity for them to do other value adding things.
I'll be changing things like that hopefully. All I have to do is have an in with somebody up high, and get my Frank Underwood on.
my last interview i had (for my current company) lasted about 3-4 hours. they provided lunch as well. the first bit is meeting with 2 tech people and having some technical discussions with me doing some stuff on a whiteboard.
the next guy i met with was the VP of the company and it's more of a personal level interview and just asking about what i want to do. the next guy i met with was the guy who kind of runs operations and the business side of things kind of telling me more about the types of work i would be doing with different contracts, etc.
the last guy i met with was the CEO of the company. it was more of a personal interview where he just asked about what my goals are and what i want to get out of working for them, and just telling me about the company values etc. the last 10-15 minutes is more personal where he just wants to get to know you.
at any point in the interview if they feel you won't be a good fit, they will just get you and let you know so they don't waste anyones time since it is a long process. my buddy interviewed here after i had the job and he didn't pass the technical part, so he didn't bother with the rest of the interview.
i actually really liked the interview process, and a lot of it is to see if you will fit in with the culture of the company. they are also very picky with who they hire (on average they make offers to 10% of the people they interview) and the company does great so it's a good process. i actually LIKE that i met with 2 owners of the company in the interview, because it shows you that everyone is kind of "on the same level" as far as who can communicate with who.
it's still that way today - yesterday the CEO came to my desk and gave me an amazon gift card as an xmas gift (which he does every year, and this is outside of our bonuses) and always tells us there is 1 rule with the gift card - spend it on yourself, don't use it to buy someone else a gift.