I have interviewed at dozens of companies lately and even more throughout my life and this one hands down takes the cake. A recruiter initially reached out to me about a contract role I had applied to. It was a great match but we couldn't come to terms on pay. He reached out again when he had a full time role at a higher rate and I agreed to interview again. The second interview is where things went wonky. I could tell almost immediately that the interviewer--the Head of HR-- was not interested in hiring me. I couldn't quite place why, but he seemed unnecessarily argumentative and difficult throughout the interview. Months later I received a form letter telling me they had selected someone who better matched the requirements of the role. Fast forward nearly a year later and the same Head of HR reaches out to me through LinkedIn as if we'd never met. Assuming he'd now carefully reviewed my resume with fresh eyes and could see how well it matched the requirements of the role, I was happy to take another interview with him for the new opportunity. As soon as he arrived (15 minutes late I might add), I could see exactly how this interview was going to go. He recognized me from the prior interview and then said he was glad I had agreed to meet him "again" because he said I keep showing up as a great match in searches for this role (well, duh, my experience almost exactly matches the requirements) but he didn't see how my specific experience fit. He then asked me very general questions about broad concepts that have different meanings depending on context (ex. pipeline, he meant marketing pipeline, I was talking about sales). Then he asked me if I had reviewed the job description and if I thought I met any of the requirements of the role. I said that I had and felt I was not only a strong match but I was also confident that I could achieve what they were looking for the person to achieve in this role. He then started to push back similar to how he had in the prior interview. What was I going to do once I got into Hubspot and had to build journeys and market to prospects? I am Hubspot certified and I will do what I have done in my prior roles that have been not only successful but increasingly so year over year. Anyway, after quite a bit of trying to explain to this person something that even AI can plainly see (my match to this role) for 30 minutes, he said he'd reach out for next steps. I left knowing I wouldn't get the job, but deciding I also didn't and would not even want it after these absurd interactions. Several months later he messaged me through LinkedIn (why waste your time with an actual call or email), he sent me a similarly written form letter about how I am such an exceptional candidate but that they had made the difficult decision to move forward with other candidates. Good riddens.