I applied for the exact position which I have performed for this company for many years, so I am clearly qualified and would be a good candidate. Admittedly I have left and returned to the group a couple of times in the memory of anyone still working there. I left the group once to take another job within Xcel toward a career change, but had to return when a company merger sent my job to another state, and another time to start a consulting business which allowed me to save money for my kids' college expenses. I re-joined some years later as a supervisor but found I could not sleep at night due to the stress of this role, and had to leave the company again, but not until after agreeing to continue this role under very difficult circumstances for 6 months. Then finally this year I re-applied for a lesser position (non-supervisory). However, this last interview I had with them tells me that this no longer a company I want to be associated with. The posting was up for about a month before I applied, and then after I applied it was six weeks before I was contacted for a phone interview. The manager (whom I had only spoken to on the phone several times related to some other related work I had done for the group) called at the appointed interview time. After asking me the ridiculous question I describe below, he immediately started grilling me about my history with leaving the group. He admitted he had ho problem with my technical abilities. It was clear to me that a certain person within that group was angry with me for leaving the group and (for many years apparently), now that he/she has finally become comfortable in the lead role, could only focus on anger with me rather than on how I could support them in the future. The manager then unexpectedly told me that he would have the recruiter bring me in for an interview. This never happened. I did not have his number to call, but I did have the recruiter's, since she sent me several pleasant emails telling me to contact her with any questions she could help me with. So after waiting several weeks, I called her and left a message letting her know that he indicated I would receive a site interview, and questioning whether I was still under consideration given that I hadn't heard anything. I also sent an email just in case. Neither of these contacts were returned. The whole process it seems was quite simply an opportunity to vent anger at me for having a career and to try to embarrass me, and make me suffer by wasting time in my job search. The manager clearly has some power and anger issues, so I am glad that I will not have to work for him in the future. The fact that the recruiter did not reply to my contacts at all, to even tell me that I was no longer being considered, was just weird and is not consistent with the company that I thought Xcel was.