I had a odd experience in terms of the actual process - I skipped an HR screener for some reason and directly spoke with the HM. They were extremely nice, and informative, and we left it that I would do an assessment, but because I didn't have an HR screener, I had no idea about the salary or which position I was in consideration for (I applied for two positions with different levels) and wanted to know that since it's obviously critical. The HM gave me the HR rep's email, and explained that due to an extreme personal situation, that's why I skipped the HR screener. In any case, I was fine with this since the HM explicitly said he wanted me to move forward with the assessment, so even not knowing the salary or title, I was okay with reaching out to the HR rep myself to get my answers (and as the HM said, tell them I am going to do the assessment). Anyway, 2 weeks go by and no one is communicating with me (both HM and HR) about the assessment or salary questions, and then suddenly a non-personalized rejection that they are going with another candidate. How frustrating that the HM said I'd be moving forward, only to be ghosted and then turned down without a chance to move to the assesment.
