Interrogating senior candidates about a single career gap right at the beginning — especially when it’s already clearly explained on both their resume and LinkedIn — feels like a very outdated and hostile interviewing approach. The reality is that the market has shifted dramatically over the past few years. Layoffs, restructures, hiring freezes, people navigating life and leadership changes have impacted even highly accomplished professionals. A pause between roles is no longer unusual, and most modern companies understand that. The best interview experiences focus on a candidate’s leadership, achievements, problem-solving ability, and long-term impact — not on making someone justify a temporary gap before the conversation has even properly started. Unfortunately, combined with the overall defensive tone of the interview, it genuinely made me lose interest in moving forward. It ended up being one of the weaker company impressions I’ve had during my search so far. Candidate experience matters, especially at senior level. The strongest companies understand that interviews are a two-way evaluation process.