Quickly turned into a nightmare.
Senior interviewer came across as needlessly combative and insecure, with the kind of behaviour that borders on workplace bullying. Sneering at answers and injecting snarky quips like “x would have been a better answer” is not rigorous interviewing, it is ego management at someone else’s expense. It is 2025. Publicly critiquing answers while someone is actively giving them is not normal, productive, or professional.
At one stage an answer was repeated back to me in a disparaging way which was bizarre and completely caught me off guard. I'm not sure if this is a 'Good cop, bad cop' routine it damaged my perception of the company immediately.
Their role is to create clarity, raise the level of the room, and enable others to do their best work. Not to belittle, posture, or create an atmosphere of fear. The basics were missed here.
It's especially annoying because the time spent on this company equates to a full working day.
However not to be all doom and gloom, a more senior leader involved non-technically on the call knew the assignment well and was astute, and indeed a pleasure to interact with! So there is hope.
Probably best to avoid unless you are desperate.