This is a subject I raised in another thread here, the phenomenon of the “brain picking” interview. This is actually quite horrible. Employer puts out a job ad. You answer and are called in for the interview. The interview turns into an hours long detailed consult on how to do a certain tech or certain creative skills. You never hear from them again. You've just been intellectually fleeced. It wasn't a real job after all. Sometimes this sort of “job interview” may be phone or zoom only and they only keep you on the phone long enough to learn about a certain tech or a certain kind of modality used at the company you currently or were employed at.
Because of a job seekers need to be perceived as cooperative and “team playing” as possible these fake interviews happen frequently. I've been roped into about a half dozen thinking, wow, they are so interested in my skills I want to show them just how skilled and suited I am for their needs and the brain picking commences.
Typically this has happened to me with smaller employers placing job ads but it's happened with large corporate hiring a couple of times. One of the most memorable was when I was desperate for employment and answered a guy who had placed an ad for an assistant–he was working out of one of those “We Work” spaces. Kept me for 3 hours learning everything I knew and then ended up giving me a stink attitude when I tried to follow up about the job.
Appreciate hearing any stories you have had, how to avoid, how to handle, etc.