I am not sure either, but its been a few years at this point. I have no desire to work for a FAANG company, or to make even relatively good money, I do try to apply to the smaller places. No need to recite all the hiring tips though, I know them all! Think it's just a combination of bad luck and lack of relevant education (I have an MA, but it's in humanities).

That is encouraging though that not all interviews are like this! I have projected so much into the fantasy of getting a tech interview without ever having one, its easy for me to be swayed one way or another.