I don’t know if Glassdoor considers “Yuck” a permissible term or not, yet it certainly captures what I felt on getting the “closely match” brush-off after 2 rounds of interviews. Does it really take any interviews to figure that out? Wouldn’t a mere perusal of my portfolio and LinkedIn profile inform these people that I’m unlikely to be the docile, meek creature they so obviously want? (Just look at the very limited portfolios of the beginners who *have* gotten hired here; there’s no comparison between my wide range of expertise for big brands and the small potatoes of the incumbents.) I did enjoy chatting with the HR person; she seems to be on the ball. Then came round 2 a few days later with a low-wattage hiring manager. Perhaps alarm bells should have sounded when he chose the dullest thing on my profile to single out for praise. But being a good sport, I showed only mild surprise. What did I hate the most about this interview? The manager’s final question, which had nothing to do with work; it was one of those show-me-how-interesting-you-are invitations to reveal your aesthetic quirks. I should have made up something banal, but instead I gave an honest response. “There are no right or wrong answers to this,” he told me. Uh huh. This isn’t the first time a manager hasn’t appreciated my self-confidence. It rather makes one wonder whether low self-esteem could be a passive-aggressive form of bullying. Verdict: any writer of accomplishment should steer an extremely wide berth around Haddad & Partners.