[gaius]

They’re just too high pressure and picky nowadays, and you’re competing with too many good candidates

Indeed. Many people (including myself) find it hard to reconcile our lived experiences with the hysterical claims in the press about a desperate skills shortage.

To the OP: if it helps, understand that these kinds of interviews and how you do on them are in no way reflective of your skills as an engineer or your worth as a human being. You’re just being hazed, by someone you probably wouldn’t want to work with anyway. Keep at it, and eventually you will get to speak to someone who is basically normal that you can have a real conversation with.

[borplk]

The shortage is a myth and corporate propaganda.

They have collectively adopted a strategy of constant moaning because they always want more and better candidates for lower prices.