I applied online and first interviewed with HR, which went very well. The conversation was personable, they answered my questions thoroughly, and there was a strong sense of rapport. The second interview, with the head of the team, was a very different experience. It was initially presented as a one-on-one, but another person led most of the conversation, focusing almost exclusively on paid advertising. The interview became highly technical and rapid-fire, centered almost entirely on revenue and ad spend. Despite having visited a facility beforehand to better understand the business and prepare thoughtful questions, that context didn’t seem to matter. The discussion narrowed to how much ad spend I had personally managed. When I asked the team lead, who has been in the role for 17 years, what he found most rewarding about his job, he said it was hitting sales goals. That was very revealing. The disconnect between those conversations clarified more about the culture than any job description could. It forced me to recognize that while I was looking for curiosity, context, and long-term thinking, the role ultimately valued performance metrics above all else.