Once my resume got shortlisted. They had scheduled first telephonic round. I took this interview as an experience which was not pleasant. I had been told to focus on STP/RSTP , L2 switching , L3 routing. In my resume , i had mentioned that i had worked extensively on Routing , multicast and MPLS protocols. I was first asked to explain about my work experience. Next i was asked if i had worked on layer 2. I gave them honest reply that i dint get the opportunity to work with STP/ and l2 switches. I had told them i am familiar with basic terms , though not handson level. They started with meshed topology of switches , then had asked me to explain how packet traverses. I had drew a diagram and started explaining first source mac learning, port vlan mapping , then went ahead with store and forward (if entry found in table) else flood on all ports. They dint let me go with my flow, they kept popping more questions. It's ok to ask questions when a candidate gets it wrong or if he/she pauses or struggles. Let's take an example, if i had started to explain mac learning of switches (a, d , b, c). They will intervene and ask , tell me the egress port mapping , mac learning for these switches. This vibe carried on till i was posted next question. My next question was on OSPF packets. I had answered type of packet and its use. To my surprise , i was told , can you explain me in just 1 line. Next question was on ibgp and ebgp differences. When i had explained the major loop prevention done in case of ibgp and ebgp. I was again told i need 1 line reply. Next question was again on same meshed network, explain me vlan tagged packet traversal in the same meshed network. Here they expected me to go in detail and explain. They had asked me if arp was L2/L3. I had replied it gets encapsulated in IP packet(l3) and does need mac for learning. They were done with the interview , they had asked me if i had any questions. I had asked about the role, their responsbilities. I had an unpleasant experience. I just that took this as an experience that not all interviewer will keep you comfortable and assess your strengths. The matter of getting selected totally depends on 4 factors, your knowledge , your confidence, willigness to learn and the vibe during the process. Even if one fails , we can expect a neutral response. You may have dreams of working in a good , helpful, challenging environment. It totally depends on interviewer nowadays to get an offer. In my career, this was the first unpleasant interview experience . It's good to do self assessment once the interview is over, no matter if we get selected or not. This helps you in future endeavours :)