TLDR; the SVP is an unprofessional, condescending and rude interviewer. After some thought, I withdrew my candidacy later that day. Perfunctory phone interview screen with HR person, we'll call her "Jane." Passed & invited to technical phone interview. Technical phone interview with a data scientist on the team. Involved a live-coding exercise in Python & SQL. Passed & invited to on-site interview with HR and data science team ** On-site interview with "Jane" again. Jane: ...I guess that makes sense given your experience as a [other job title here]. Me: Actually, I'm a Data Scientist at [my company name]. Jane: Oh. (no apology, just next question. Red flag.) Jane: What time do you need to get back to the airport? Me: I work in LA, actually. Jane: Oh. (no apology, moves on to next question. Red flag.) 10-20 minutes later and several more instances of mistaken identity/lack of preparation... Jane: We've been learning some new HR systems and it's been really hectic. Me: Don't worry about it. I have friends in HR who mix people up too. Jane: Oh. I'm not worried about that. I'm not sweating that at all. (red flag) Me: Ah. OK. Jane: By the way, your interview schedule has been changed and you will be meeting with people in a different order and with one less person. Me: OK. (Jane leads me to the interviewing area of Guy 1, Guy 2 and Guy 3 of data science team.) ** On-site interview with Guy 1 of data science team: Guy 1: So, we were supposed to have access to Guy 2's office for this interview, but he is running late. Let's go for a walk. Me: OK. Interview goes fine. Kind of silly Python programming exercises from an intro programming book; not problems I really care about or solve regularly so nothing I've committed to memory. Probably homework 1 of an intro Python programming course. I write correct psuedo-code with sound logic and with mostly accurate Python syntax. Some SQL questions which are pretty straightforward since I use it every day. During my interview, Guy 1 gets a text from Guy 2, and they presumably begin a texting conversation about interview logistics for about 2-3 continuous minutes. On the walk back to Guy 2's office, I ask Guy 1 questions for about 10 minutes. ** On-site interview with Guy 2 of data science team: Guy 2: Okay, so we're only going to have 30 minutes together (instead of the original hour). We're going spend some time where you can ask me some questions then talk about some technical things, then 15 minutes of Python coding, and 15 minutes of SQL coding. Me: So more than 30 minutes? Guy 2: (stares at me incredulously) No. 15. 15. 30... (red flag) Me: ...OK. (I was confused because his imprecise conjunction placement suggested additional topics in addition to the two 15-minute whiteboard coding segments). Guy 2: Do you have any questions for me? Me: Not right now. Guy 2: Are you sure? Me: Yes. Guy 2: No questions at all? (red flag) Me: No. I asked Guy 1 questions for the last 20 minutes and learned a lot from him so I don't have any questions right now. Guy 2: Really? No questions? OK... (red flag) Guy 2: Let's do some Python coding. It will be a basic computer science 101 programming question. Me: OK. (My background is grad school in statistics...). The task involves writing a Python function that sorts a list of numeric values into ascending order. I write a program in pseudo-Python (mostly correct syntax) that implements bubble sort. I caveat that there are better ways to do it but that this is the algo I feel most comfortable writing from scratch. He asks me to optimize it. I spend a few minutes thinking and hypothesizing about a way to take advantage of a dictionary data structure that I think will be faster. Guy 2: OK. You lost me me. I don't understand what you're saying. Anyway, let's move on. Yeah. More of the same. Guy 2 seems like an insecure, condescending person. I did not enjoy my experience with him. While handing me off to Guy 3, Guy 2 abruptly pulled Guy 3 aside and had a discussion, presumably about my interview and his opinion...about 3 feet from me (red flag). I stepped back from the room to give them some privacy while they stood in the doorway. Guy 3 was quite nice and asked me to do very basic SQL operations. He had the best interpersonal skills of the group. Conclusion: Imagine getting asked questions like, "how many miles is the moon from the earth?" We all learned that information while children. It is trivial to look it up, is useless information for my day-to-day life and so I do not remember. A lot of "gotcha" questions like that about Python programming. Do I have to write a quicksort/heapsort from scratch during my day-to-day here? If so, no thanks. If not, why ask and does it even matter if I don't know? (I do know).