The role had been posted for over a month before the company began screening candidates, which raised some concerns for me since most organizations tend to move more quickly when filling open positions. A recruiter reached out to schedule an initial phone screen, and the conversation went well overall. However, compensation wasn’t discussed until the very end of the 30-minute call. I shared that I was familiar with the posted salary range and provided my desired compensation, but the recruiter then explained that the company was actually targeting candidates at the lower end of the range. That was confusing and felt inconsistent with the compensation range that had been advertised. Despite that, I chose to continue with the interview process. The company moved me through the remaining interviews fairly quickly, though I was surprised to be interviewed by someone who would have been a peer in the role rather than a manager or decision-maker. That interview felt awkward, as the interviewer had a very dry communication style that made it difficult to build rapport or have a natural conversation. It did not feel like a collaborative discussion at all. All of my other interviews seemed to go well, and I left with a positive impression overall. However, I continued to have concerns about the compensation, as it became clear that the company was targeting candidates at a salary level significantly lower than what the posted range suggested. The lack of alignment between the advertised range and the actual budget for the role felt misleading and created uncertainty throughout the process. About a week and a half later, I received a rejection with no additional feedback or explanation which was disappointing being that I had invested hours into the interview process.