> I got the job. It was the only interview I've had where I really felt they were asking me something relevant to the work and the kind of work I would be required to do.

This is the interview method espoused in Reinventing the Interview:

https://www.amazon.com/Ask-Headhunter-Reinventing-Interview-...

I was lucky to stumble on this when I was young and it has been very useful in thinking about both being interviewed and interviewing.

As someone hiring right now, I feel your pain and, while I hope I compare favorably to the interviews your describe, I wish I was better.

My one piece of advice: read Nick Corcodilos's Reinventing the Interview:

http://www.amazon.com/Ask-Headhunter-Reinventing-Interview-W...

The basic idea is demonstrate you can provide value to the company, and you have the skills to do the job. If you're stuck with a disinterested interviewer asking irrelevant questions, make it about the job you'll do and your ability to succeed in the job. He has concrete suggestions. I say, if they're not open to that and it is clearly not working, tell them you it is not going to work out and stop the interview rather than enduring another miserable experience.

Yeah. Learn how to get a satisfying job instead of taking bad advice from an incompetent career counselor.

Maybe doing 3hrs worth of data entry this the most economic value this guy can provide. In that case, he better learn to settle.

The answer is right there in the article. “I learned all I needed to know in high school, ya know,” he argued. “I wanted to make money." The way to get a job is to convince your boss you can make him money. This is why businesses hire. Instead of trying to impress potential employers with yours smarts, or relate to them like a frat boy, impress them with your understanding of the value you provide and how you add to their bottom line. Then you'll get hired.

Nick A. Corcodilos talks about this in Reinventing the Interview:

http://www.amazon.com/Ask-Headhunter-Reinventing-Interview-W...

(Great book, but probably not worth buying. If memory serves, it is a little repetitive, but it is short and you can read it in a bookstore in one sitting.) Or go read back articles from Ask the Headhunter.