I had an initial interview with the recruiter. We had a great conversation and they got me more interested in the studio.
Less than a week later, I met with the Lead. I mark the interview as difficult because I felt most of their questions wanted some specific answers without sharing the specific challenge. It reminded me of a multiple choice pop quiz or entry level interview questions. There were too few questions about my process and how I collaborate within a team. When I had a process question, I got the feeling they weren't really listening to my, especially since they didn't have any follow up. Overall, they lacked curiosity about my experience, and I later received a rejection stating that they didn't feel I had a enough experience for the role. I'm a little miffed about that.
When it was my turn for questions, I was generally unimpressed with the Lead's answers. When I've asked these questions of designers in other interviews, there's always a genuine excitement and it really brings up the energy of the interview, leaving us both with a great conversation no matter the outcome. This Lead just didn't have much to say about their own work or other designers they've worked with. I think this person would have been great to learn from due to how critical they seemed (I thrive on this sort of criticism so I was excited), but they lacked the ability to express praise and be proud of their team.