I had an interview for what can be described as a mid-tier marketing role a few months ago. There were lots of stages, interviews with my national team lead, global head of marketing, etc, plus the usual putting together a task and presenting it, no small amount of work!
This all went well until the final stage which was a 30 minute grilling from the CEO. I was admittedly forewarned about this, that he would ask me irrelevant questions, I guess to see how I think under pressure? I wasn't asked a single question relevant to my experience or the role I was applying for, nor would my role have been one which reported directly to him.
The whole thing felt like a power play for its own sake and I question why someone with such an impressive career and I'm sure so many important things to do feels the need to flex in such a way? Does he not trust the opinion of senior management? You might think this review is me being bitter and I suppose that is true - I could have done the role easily. I question the purpose of this interview stage with the CEO.