I had a frustrating experience during a screening call with a recruiter who reached out to me on LinkedIn. He praised my seven years in data analytics and asked for a quick chat, which I agreed to despite being happy at my current job because the compensation looked appealing. During the call, I answered his questions about my current projects and when he asked why I was interested in their startup, I mentioned that I was mainly there to learn about their roadmap since he had contacted me out of the blue. He seemed taken aback by my response and told me my tone was too blunt for their collaborative environment. Then, he suggested that I would do better in these conversations if I smiled more, emphasizing that they had a very bubbly office culture. I was shocked and just sat there holding my coffee, thinking I should have hung up right then. I’m a senior analyst, not someone who needs to perform cheerfulness on demand. The call ended abruptly at the six-minute mark when he said they needed someone with a 'softer cultural fit.' It's disheartening that hiring managers still expect candidates to prioritize performative cheerfulness over professional dialogue, especially in a technical role.