[pc86]

Maybe you legitimately weren't a good fit? I'm not being facetious, but "the SVP was an idiot and made a terrible call despite all the evidence" is possible but not the most likely scenario.

Maybe someone with exactly your skillset and experience was hired, hated it, and quit after 6 months. Maybe one of the other people you interviewed with mentioned an offhand comment you made and it soured the SVP's expectation. Maybe they just got served divorce papers and were shitting on everyone that day?

It's so random that I don't even try to second-guess or deconstruct the non-technical side anymore. It happens or it doesn't.

[neofrommatrix]

Very possible. From the recruiter's rejection email, it seemed that the decision was really close. And you're right. Cannot really speculate about this.