A recruiter contacted me via LinkedIn. I shared my doubts about the company, given the comments I'd read on Glassdoor. They assured me that things had changed and suggested I give them a try. Consequently, I agreed to a call with another recruiter.

This call turned out to be the most awkward, weird, and clueless interview of my entire life. They demonstrated a toxic culture right from the HR screening.

The recruiter was far more invested in following her script and asking theoretical questions than in getting to know me or assessing my potential personal/cultural fit for the company.

You reached out to recruit me; I did not apply. Therefore, please utilize basic human skills to focus on me as a professional, not as a living Wikipedia. As a senior software engineer, I can prepare for almost any topic and learn about any technology, best practice, etc., in a very short time. That's what's important: my willingness and ability to learn quickly!

Tell me about Optimistic and Pessimistic Locking.

What are they, and how do they differ?

Have you worked with the Java Concurrency Library?

How many years have you been programming in Java?

Would you be willing to use plain Java with no frameworks?

What does ACID mean to you?