I received a call from their recruiter saying they were very interested, but because of the senior level of the position, they (the hiring team) would want an in person interview. (I was not local to the area.)
I said ok, and figured that they had seen my experience, contacted references, and basically short listed me to at least the top 2-3 candidates directly, otherwise, why ask me to fly cross country for an interview?
I said yes, naively optimistic, which is my fault. I received an invite, however I didn't receive any flight booking information or questions. Obviously this should have been a huge red flag- no company worth working for that wants to hire for a senior position would ever ask the applicant to pay for their own fare. Again, huge red flag that I ignored because like a child, I really thought I wanted to work there because of the industry.
I justified it as a mini vacation that my wife and I could take, although again I ultimately knew better in my gut.
So I arrive for the interview, and instead of the owner and other senior level team members as specified on the invite, it's a mid level manager and two junior level HR and operations people. Oh boy, I should have known.
Generic interview questions proceeded (it was clear none of them had knowledge of the position I was interviewing for) without much ado.
I left knowing that the entire process was junk, and this was basically a preliminary interview that could have/should have been done over the phone.
All in all, and ridiculous waste of everyone's time, which makes sense given their reputation. I take full credit for letting myself get fooled, but hopefully this helps dissuade others from the same error.