I recently interviewed with Confluent for the Cloud Acquisition role. I passed the recruiter screening and then had a conversation with the hiring manager—which, to say the least, was interesting. The conversation didn’t flow well, as the manager kept interjecting when I was speaking and made assumptions that I didn’t understand what Confluent does, despite my experience working with similar technology for years. I wouldn’t claim to be the perfect candidate, but I definitely have the knowledge and experience to close the SMB deals this role focused on. That said, the questions felt off—none of them truly assessed my qualifications or experience beyond a generic “describe your sales process.” It seemed like they were more focused on personality fit than technical ability, which I assume is why the next step is a technical interview. Ultimately, I’m fine with not moving forward. I’d rather not work for a company that prioritizes personality or arbitrary “likability” over actual skills and experience.