I rarely leave interview reviews, but this experience stood out for all the wrong reasons. The first interview with the hiring manager was uncomfortable from the start. He told me I needed to “slow down and not get ahead of myself” when I was going over my background which was extremely condescending. When I asked for feedback, the only criticism I received was about my attire not being formal enough, despite the hiring manager himself being dressed much more casually. There was no discussion of my technical skills, experience, or interview performance, which I found surprising and degrading. He tried to blame it on the corporate communications team saying they were very formal but when I met with them they were all dressed casually and were very laid back during the interview. During the second interview, I met with the hiring manager and several team members. Much of the discussion consisted of being asked highly specific questions about internal projects and systems that someone outside the company would have no way of knowing. For example “how would you fix the code in this template” without showing the actual code. Rather than evaluating my technical knowledge or problem-solving approach, I felt like I was being put on the spot with “gotcha” questions. I could tell his team was uncomfortable too in the interview and they were trying to ask me more culture related questions to help me be more comfortable and less intimidated. Ironically, the rest of the team seemed welcoming and professional. Unfortunately, my interactions with the hiring manager overshadowed the entire experience. I had been genuinely interested in the role, but I ultimately withdrew from the process because I could not picture myself working for someone who I found to be condescending and dismissive and quite honestly just plain arrogant. I also left with the personal impression that I was treated differently than I would have expected, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that gender may have influenced the interaction.