I was contacted by a recruiter. I had 2 great phone interviews and 1 great in-person team interview. I was called back for an person interview with the hiring manager. She kept me waiting 20 minutes, didn't apologize, never made eye contact and based on the questions she asked, she had not read my resume. I was a fan of the company but not anymore.

I recently completed a six-round interview process over the span of three weeks, only to be told I was not selected. The experience was, candidly, exhaustive and unnecessarily protracted. During the on-site panel, one interviewer asked me to “say something very professional,” which felt more like a pop quiz from a 1990s training manual than a modern talent-assessment tactic. That same individual also pressed me to recall names of colleagues from 15+ years ago because she previously held a senior role at a similar organization. I’m sure the role would have been a long-term opportunity, but six interviews—paired with questionable self-awareness and outdated evaluation methods—crosses into diminishing-returns territory. In this market, candidate experience matters, and talent will self-select out when processes feel misaligned with contemporary leadership practices.