From the inside, it can feel like there are actually too many rules. The interviewer is likely running a fairly narrow script. The interviewer probably believes

From the inside, it can feel like there are actually too many rules. The interviewer is likely running a fairly narrow script. The interviewer probably believes they are being fair or generous when allowing minor deviations from their structure. From the outside, it all feels random: unless you know the rules the interview is playing by, you can easily make a mistake. Each place has a different interview script and priorities.