The interview process was a complete waste of time. It started with a pleasant recruiter screen, but quickly devolved into two back to back panel interviews filled with repetitive, surface level questions and a surprising amount of empty chatter. The number of hours expected from candidates in interviews alone was excessive and unjustified. The managers conducting the interviews appeared inexperienced, unprepared, and lacking relevant industry knowledge. Instead of a substantive discussion, it felt like a group of people going through the motions without actually understanding how to evaluate real experience. At times, it was genuinely bizarre, more like a group of people playing manager than functioning as competent professionals. I was repeatedly told I was “overqualified,” which clearly felt like code for age. That impression only grew stronger throughout the process. Rather than engaging with my background, the interviewers seemed uncomfortable and even intimidated by it. When the conversation moved beyond basic questions, they were clearly out of their depth. What made this worse was the obvious mismatch in backgrounds. The managers themselves appeared to come from unrelated industries and lacked relevant experience, which raises a bigger question. Why is the company continuing to hire people who are not truly qualified, and what are they actually looking for? If the role genuinely requires experience, why reject candidates who have it? If the goal is to hire someone more junior who will not challenge existing management, then the job description should reflect that. As it stands, it feels misleading. During the second panel, one of the managers even responded to an idea I shared by saying it was a great idea and wrote it down as a potential new software feature. That moment speaks for itself. I am writing this specifically for experienced professionals so they do not waste their time. This is not an environment that values or knows how to leverage real experience. It feels like they are looking for people who will be overly grateful just to be there and unlikely to challenge anything, rather than someone who can make a meaningful impact. In the end, I was rejected despite being told I was highly qualified, with the explanation that my “career goals didn’t align.” That reasoning felt like a convenient excuse rather than an honest answer. Overall, the process was disorganized, inefficient, and strongly suggestive of age bias and intimidation rather than a fair and professional evaluation.