I would say its a combination of multiple things.
Picking back up on this to add one observation having interviewed candidates and been on interviews for roles: One thing that you don't experience often is feeling that you "click" with the interviewer. Over the past decade, I've probably been on over 300 interviews, and I can count the times that everything just flowed. In my case, I felt that it wasn't an interview but a conversation, you're talking about things that matter, they're trying to understand your story and what makes you tick, not checking off boxes.
Just wanted to put it out there that sometimes it's a numbers game. You never really know what team or leader/hiring manager is going to be a fit for you and what's important to you. Put yourself out there, entertain more interviews/calls than you might like, and something might just click. You'll know it when you experience it.
This is such a tricky one! I find that asking direct questions helps--if you know the best way to phrase them to get specific answers. A lot of the time, asking stuff like "How would you describe your company culture" gets really vague, canned answers. I like to ask for examples, like "tell me about a time when..." This article kind of dives into other ways you can get more honest answers in and out of the interview: https://medium.com/merit-publication/getting-to-honest-answers-as-an-interviewee-6c1ff3b8f8de
Hope this helps!
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