All employment interviews are like this. They are constructs of an industry ("human resources") that was never necessary and, as such, had to prove its existence using fictional terms. When legislation teamed up with this industry, the marriage created a Frankenstein monster with a negative IQ. The one time I had to interview for the employment of an assistant, I threw away the industry guidebook and just had conversations with the applicants. I hired the one whose personality matched mine. The result was an assistant who didn't "need" her job and just wanted experience in a new career. We worked great together.