The interview process was unnecessarily long and ultimately quite disappointing. I went through four rounds of interviews — first with HR, followed by two separate peer interviews, before finally speaking with the hiring manager. Up until the final round, the conversations were fairly standard and I was led to believe that my experience aligned well with the role. However, the interaction with the hiring manager was a completely different experience. The hiring manager appeared to have already formed a negative opinion about my profile and dismissed my resume almost immediately, stating that because I had “managerial experience,” they believed I would not be able to perform the more execution-heavy aspects of the role. I attempted to explain my background and clarify that I am comfortable being hands-on with execution, but the discussion felt very one-sided and dismissive. It did not feel like there was any genuine openness to understanding my experience or giving me a fair evaluation. What was most frustrating was that this perspective seemed to contradict the earlier interview stages. If the hiring manager already felt strongly that my profile was unsuitable, it raises the question of why my application was progressed through multiple rounds in the first place. Overall, the experience felt like a significant waste of time after several interview rounds, and the final conversation left a rather poor impression of the process.