I found this interview difficult because it did not align with my experiences and expectations as a candidate in tech who has been interviewing for quite some time (and who has previously interviewed people myself as a hiring manager). I do not mean this as a compliment to the "innovative" or "outside-the-box" nature of this interview, because it was not those things. I mean that the questions the recruiter asked and the focus they seemed to be pushing, compared to the JD, were odd and on the unfair side. The questions were qualitative and personal, and matched almost no information shared in the JD, which was technical and skills-focused. A discrepancy this wide should not exist, unless the goal is to "gotcha" candidates. The recruiter seemed annoyed that, as a result of this, I was confused. They acted like I was just stalling for time when I repeated their questions back to them for clarity before answering. They did not want me to explain how I accomplished anything described in my resume. Their tone was critical and disbelieving, like their job was to poke holes in my work history. They also, weirdly, kept muting themselves only to seem confused that I would hear the change in sound, think the call had dropped and ask if they were still there. This happened multiple times. It might seem a small thing but it made the odd questions even harder to focus on. And then at the end of the call they finally admitted they'd been muting themselves over and over. Why not just ... say this upfront? Another confusing, off-putting phone screen. Put it in the bucket. Seems par for the course in our current moment in tech.