I first interviewed with a key HR person at Bankrate/Red Ventures and had a great conversation. I felt her energy and her overall approach to recruiting was great. I then had an interview with someone who wasn't the hiring manager (since the hiring manager was too busy to screen folks - understandable) but would have been a peer I'd collaborate with often. He asked me a lot of questions, but many of them weren't very hard-hitting but I followed his lead and thought it went well considering. I was initially told they were going to move forward to the next step but they quickly changed their mind, stating they liked my soft skills but were concerned about the hard skills that were associated with the role, specifically in one subject that most of my overall work experience is exactly in (and the subject is even in my current job title). This interviewing asked me no questions about this topic specifically and jumped around to a bunch of different questions. It was strange to receive that feedback. It's like saying an accountant doesn't appear to have strong accounting skills, when you didn't even ask them specific questions around accounting. I felt they dismissed me unfairly, and it was just strange considering my background and how well the conversation flowed. Just strange and dissapointing and left a bad taste in my mouth.