The initial chat with HR was fine. The recruiter was professional, easy to talk to, explained the scope of the role well, and asked appropriate screening questions. The interview with the hiring manager was not good. It was felt like a rigid high school exam. It wasn't a particularly two-way discussion, and was mostly a top-down interrogation focused entirely on the rote memorisation of various GRC frameworks, with little opportunity to actually talk through any of my relevant experience. It felt there was no room for a holistic assessment of capability or strategic thinking. There was a highly complex scenario question delivered as a 60-second verbal data dump. It felt entirely designed to test my short-term memory rather than my actual ability to analyse and respond to the hypothetical scenario. The whole process felt entirely designed to stroke the manager's ego rather than evaluate a peer.