> This isn't malicious. It's structural, driven by several interconnected forces:

An additional reason is religion. People were told that these are the interview rituals you should do, they spent a lot of time rehearsing for it (to the exclusion of learning or doing useful things), and they think everyone should have to do it, or they are bad people.

An additional reason is that some people don't know much about the field, other than particular interview rituals.

An additional reason is that most people who know how to do their jobs, still don't know how to interview, so just mimic what they've seen.

An additional reason is justifying your existence/status. Sometimes, when I see a job description with requirements seemingly puffed up to sound impressive, I get the impression that it's not by someone who doesn't understand the role, but rather by someone who wants to make the role look impressive to their boss, for their own status or that of their team. Similar with interview practices.

An additional reason is frat hazing, for the sake of frat hazing. When easy upper-middle-class money entered the field, it attracted some baggery.

Not all organizations or interviewers have all the above reasons, but you can probably guess at least one of these is at play any time you get an ineffective/counterproductive interview "loop".