My interview experience was not a good one. The first interview round involved recording video responses to screening questions followed by submitting portfolio samples. I was then invited to an in-person interview with the hiring manager. Here is where the problems started. At the start of my interview with the hiring manager, instead of asking me to tell a little about myself or talk about her role or why the position exists, she abruptly went right into the mundane scripted behavioral questions which was jarring. I have interviewed a lot over the last 20 years and this was the first time I’ve experienced something like this from a hiring manager. It was a very awkward start to an hour-long interview which would make anyone feel uncomfortable. She also seemed very distracted as I answered her questions like she was reading something while I was speaking. She also rarely provided a follow-up response to reflect on anything I had to say. Overall, she seemed to lack situational awareness. Half-way through the interview, she asked how I would deal with resistance to ideas within the company. I offered my thoughts and then she continued to give more examples of resistance within the company before asking me to provide additional thoughts. I shared my thoughts again but it seemed that she was not happy with my responses and began to aggressively criticize the company culture before asking me to again share my thoughts. It was evident that she was venting about her recent experiences with resistance and this seemed very prevalent in the company. However, the fact that she spent more than 10 minutes talking about this was a red flag and quickly made me lose interest in the role. In fact, none of the interview questions she asked actually focused on the job description which was very technical in nature. She admitted that she did not have experience in the EdTech industry so we were left primarily discussing her perceptions of challenges within the company rather than discussing the e-learning and instructional design skills required for the role. Needless to say, I withdrew my application. Amplify needs to do a better job promoting their company to candidates rather than allowing interviewers to criticize it’s culture and ultimately scare talent away.