The first two rounds of interviews for the Project Manager position in Corpus Christi TX with HR and the hiring manager were quite successful, but the third round, with a couple of head office reps, was very strange. When they saw me on a Teams video call, their expressions turned grim, and after a brief pause, I was asked a question—a very strange one, in my opinion—"What do I think about the federal government's initiative to support renewable energy sources?" The job posting was about terminals and pipelines for refined products. What did renewable energy have to do with it? I was somewhat surprised, but I replied that the initiative was prompted by the government's obligations under the Paris Agreement and the UN framework, as well as US-wide decisions such as the IRA. And that I generally supported the initiative as long as a particular project is proven feasible, was properly managed andexecuted, and did not lead to long-term losses at the corporate level. Apparently, either it was just an idle question and my application was already decided at first glance, or they didn't like the answer, but I didn't get the job. I glanced in the mirror right after the interview – everything seemed in place and in the normal order. I don't know what they didn't like. The conversation and those unfriendly eyes left an unpleasant impression.
