I made it to the final round of interviews and had never been more excited about the possibility of joining a firm. HR was extremely responsive throughout the process—calling and texting me on short notice to schedule interviews. We were building real rapport, and everything felt aligned. That energy shifted during my final interview with a peer—a white woman. I’m a Black man, and I could immediately tell she did not like me. Her demeanor felt closed off and dismissive, and I trusted that feeling in real time. After that interview, communication from the team went completely silent. Then, without any context or explanation, I received a standard, automated rejection email. The contrast was jarring. After weeks of enthusiasm, urgency, and personal engagement, it ended with a generic rejection that felt disconnected from the process I had just experienced. The whole thing was strange, abrupt, and deeply unsettling—and it confirmed what I already felt in that room.