I was first invited to a phone interview with a member of the HR team. This went well and left me feeling enthusiastic about the opportunity to join the company. I was then invited to a 30-minute Teams interview with two people: one who would be my line manager if I were successful, and the other a senior member of the HR team.
As soon as the Teams meeting began, I could hear loud background noise from a busy office environment. It was very distracting, but I tried to ignore it, as neither of the other attendees acknowledged it. The senior HR representative asked why I left my previous role. I responded with a diplomatic answer, but they followed up with, “Yeah sure, but why did you really leave?” I gave a more detailed explanation while making every effort to remain professional.
The interview continued, and the senior HR representative provided what was easily the most hostile interview experience I have ever had. Eventually, the other attendee remarked on the background noise, which turned out to be coming from the senior HR representative, and asked them to mute themselves when not speaking.
When they had finished asking their questions, I was invited to ask mine. The senior HR representative turned off their camera and remained muted throughout, without responding to any of my questions. Then, with about five minutes remaining, they unmuted themselves to say they needed to end the interview immediately as another was scheduled to start.
I have never experienced a more hostile or unprofessional interview in my career.