Disconnected interview process for leadership roles Pros: The HR team was responsive, and the scheduling process was smooth. Cons: The interview loop for this management position was entirely theoretical and lacked relevance to real-world engineering. The evaluation committee focused heavily on academic concepts typically geared toward recent graduates, completely bypassing production experience, system architecture, or scaling challenges. It felt like the panel lacked hands-on experience deploying or managing this technology at scale in a commercial environment. Advice to Management: Align the interview panel's expectations with the actual seniority of the role. Managerial candidates should be evaluated on leadership, production scaling, and commercial delivery rather than textbook theory.