This was the most bizarre and frankly disrespectful interview I've ever had. The first screening interview was with an HR employee, who was very kind and able to answer my questions about the company and culture. She informed me that the next interview would be a 1 on 1 with the CEO, and the third and final interview would be a seminar/presentation with the team in Ann Arbor.
The second round interview with the CEO is where things took a turn. First, she asked me to tell her about myself and asked why I am looking to leave my current position. I was able to answer these questions easily. Then, she asked me where I live. I told her I live in metro-Detroit, had researched the commute to Ann Arbor (45 mins), and was fine with the commute. The CEO interrupted me to say, "commuting that far will not work; you will have to move. Can you move?". I replied that I own a home here and would prefer to commute. She mumbled something else about how that will not work and the commute is "too far".
She then asked me if I have any questions. I asked her what the most exciting thing about working at such an innovative company is. She verbatim said "I don't know. I don't work on the projects", and stared at me blankly. This was incredibly rude and I could not believe that the CEO couldn't even say one nice thing about the company.
I moved on to my next question, and asked what her leadership style is like as a CEO. She said "servant model", and once again offered no elaboration.
The last question I asked her was if the company is facing any obstacles in growth, given the termination of so much federal funding. The CEO replied that "it is too early in the interview process for you to be asking that". This was shocking, considering that I was one round away from the final interview and was speaking with the literal CEO. How much farther was I supposed to get before asking this question? Not to mention, this woman just told me I have to move and sell my house, but essentially refused to answer if I would be fired in a month due to lack of funding.
Overall, this interview was a giant, waving red flag and I was glad to see that before committing to work here. It surely would have been miserable.