I interviewed to be the Assistant to the Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, and I have to say, it was hands down one of the most alarming and unpleasant experiences of my professional life. Mid-level management deliberately abused their position and tried to intimidate, coerce, and manipulate me on several occasions. Looking back now, it didn't seem like they had any real intention of hiring me whatsoever, yet they asked me to perform take home assignments and subjected me to a demeaning and dehumanizing process just to be mean-spirited. Asked me excessively detailed questions that would be impossible for me to answer so I was set up to fail. I also sensed some weird, subtly gendered antagonism directed against me as well, as if it was somehow okay and funny to be rude to me because I was incorrectly assumed to be a young, heterosexual man interviewing to be the assistant of a gay man. I don't think they realized I'm gay myself, and they seemed to regret their behavior somewhat once they did. (Very strange – shouldn't be a factor. Interviewing for a job is an inherently difficult position to be in and every candidate deserves to be treated with respect regardless of their perceived gender expression or sexual orientation). Mid-level management also subtly tried to psychologically pit me against and instill antagonism in me towards the person whom I was interviewing to be an assistant to, and I think also tried to instill antagonism in him towards me (very icky, manipulative, weird + counterproductive. A healthy working relationship is built on empathy and mutual respect, not hostility and divisive control). Several other colleagues at the museum were involved in the process, and it seemed like they were all manipulated and triangulated by mid-level management to do their dirty work and be deliberately nasty and disrespectful to me for no reason (flying monkeys). I overlooked the red flags and ignored my better judgment and instincts that told me something was off throughout the process because the person I was interviewing to assist seemed like a really intelligent and interesting guy, and I was genuinely excited about the possibility of making the connection and working for him. I also felt uncomfortable and bad for him to an extent because it seemed like mid-level management was covertly back-stabbing and undermining his position by trying to pit his own team (and assistant) against him to exert coercive control/covert abuse over him on some level as well. At the same time, it was a severe abuse of power directed towards me and a very disheartening experience to learn that this museum allows its staff to deliberately try to debase and abuse young people who are eager to make a good impression and advance in their career, and will therefore remain positive no matter what . Wildly unprofessional and abusive experience all around.