I recently interviewed for the Engineering Manager role at Arintra, and let’s just say it was… enlightening.
The conversation was with their Director of Engineering, and the tone was set pretty quickly. For almost every answer I gave, I kept noticing the same expression on his face—a mix of discomfort, surprise, and mild panic, as if my experience was causing him more stress than the actual role. After the third time, it was pretty clear that the interview had shifted from evaluating me to him quietly evaluating his own job security.
Instead of discussing impact, leadership, or how I could add value, most of the signals I got made it feel like he was comparing my background to his—and not in a healthy, collaborative way. At one point, towards the end, I asked a very normal question about stakeholders I’d work with aside from my reporting manager. He gave a small laugh and replied, “You will have to report to me,” in a tone that said more than the words did. That pretty much confirmed the direction things were going.
I walked out of the interview fairly certain of the outcome—not because of my fit, but because the DOE seemed more worried about having someone stronger in the org than about hiring what the company actually needs. A rejection driven by insecurity isn’t new in the industry, but this one was unusually transparent.
I’m not someone who goes around complaining about interviews, but this experience was too ironic not to call out. Maybe Arintra’s hiring team could consider routing highly experienced candidates elsewhere—or perhaps run a quick “confidence calibration” session for their leaders—so the Engg leaders can breathe comfortably during interviews.