My experience was unfortunately frustrating and felt like a bit of a missed opportunity — mainly due to unclear expectations and an interview process that felt more focused on filtering than meaningful evaluation. The first interview was a 45-minute screen with HR, focused heavily on verifying that I was a “real person,” which was unusual. I asked about the remote nature of the role (I’m two states away), and while they said they were open to remote for “the right person,” they kept circling back to an in-office expectation of one or two days per week — which didn’t align with our earlier discussions. Still, they moved me to a second interview. The second round was a two-hour chat with their current Architect. He was friendly, but read from a script almost the entire time, often repeating questions. Most of the conversation centered around the SOLID principles, but in a deliberately convoluted way — he even said he was trying to make the questions difficult to test my reactions. He repeatedly mentioned trying to weed out scammers, including a comment about North Korea. At one point, near the two-hour mark, I even asked if I’d proven I was real yet — it got a laugh, but also highlighted how off-track things had gotten. Despite the Architect saying he’d love to work with me, I was rejected the next day. HR said the team wanted a local candidate and that my experience aligned better with a Senior Developer role. I appreciated getting an answer at all (and not being ghosted), but the reasoning felt at odds with the earlier feedback and the entire process.