I was contacted by a recruiter for a technical position and asked to apply if I was interested. I applied online and heard back after about a week. + 1 week: My initial phone interview was great and we discussed the role and my interests. Based on our conversation, I was asked to also apply for a management position in a similar department due to my leadership experience. + 2 weeks (3 weeks total): A couple of weeks later, I was invited to conduct a video interview with a panel of 5 leaders at MITRE and instructed to develop and brief a presentation with focus on leadership/goals/accomplishments. After preparing the presentation, I was told (a day before my interview) that it had to be rescheduled since not all panel members could attend. I got the impression they were disorganized. Interview had to be rescheduled 2 weeks later. +2 weeks (5 weeks total): I received an invitation for the new date, but was told my presentation would no longer be required (which I found strange?) and the entire 45 minute interview would be Q&A. I dialed-on for the interview early, however it was started late and abruptly. The format was strange and it gave me the impression that the panel member didn't have much experience interviewing candidates. Each person went through their introductions and I was then told to describe what I thought would be my biggest "challenges" in the role. I felt that I gave a thorough answer, however the panel quickly changed direction and they began asking more technical questions, despite the job description's emphasis on leadership experience and people management. For 40 minutes, I was mostly asked questions that I didn't find relevant to the job description, which felt like a game of "stump the chump". Two of the panelists were responsive and asked insightful questions on leadership and management strategies, however the other three seemed disengaged or focused on questioning the validity of my experience. One member appeared disinterested and counterproductive by closing their eyes and resting their head on their hand (as if they were going to take a nap), checking their other computer screen, and interrupting me to ask off-topic questions. I was told one of their "concerns" regarding leadership experience was that I'd need to have a "large existing network" within MITRE already to coordinate on projects. Since I've never worked at MITRE, I was told this would be detrimental to being successful in a leadership role. I found this opinion to be short-sighted, borderline disrespectful, and backwards thinking. Using this logic, they'd only appoint leadership from within their ranks. I was then asked if I'd be interested in taking a lower level position to "get to know the organization" and further develop my technical skills, which came off as infantilizing and counterproductive to my goals of advancing in leadership. Why would I sign myself up to take a step backwards with the hope of climbing the ladder in an organization when I'm clearly applying for leadership roles I'm qualified for? With 5 minutes left in the interview, I was told that I had a few minutes left where I could "bring up anything else that I feel like they should know" and ask any questions. This felt disrespectful (again) since it gave the impression that they weren't interested in my questions. I had many questions, however decided to ask about the day-to-day and how the role didn't have a location requirement, but dictated travel to McLean and Bedford on a periodic basis. The supervisor then said they'd want me on-site at McLean 3 days a week, which was inconsistent with what I was told on my initial phone interview (I was initially told there would be much less frequent travel to McLean for this role, which was important to me considering I'm located over an hour away from their HQ). Additionally, I was told they'd be "paying attention" to how frequently we came to the office, which came off as micro-managing and not forward-thinking given how flexible telework arrangements are in many companies nowadays. I received contact after the interview from a separate department saying they received my resume and would like to talk to me, however my initial interview gave me a bad impression and I feel less inclined to pursue the opportunity, especially when there are more forward-thinking organizations out there. Overall Impression: I feel like I wasted 5 weeks of my time to build a presentation (which they ended up not even wanting) and go through a process where the hiring panel wasn't even interested in hiring me for the role I applied for. It's unfortunate because I was very interested in the role, however the panel seemed more inclined to divert me toward applying for lower level positions instead. I would have appreciated it if they simply communicated that to me beforehand instead of kicking a can down the road, only to finally say "thanks but no thanks".