My interview process was informal (more conversational) as I was being brought on through a referral by the senior leadership due to a niche experience/expertise in an area where the company was looking to grow. After the interview, the VP hopped on a call with me to say that they are thrilled to have me and listed all the potential projects I’d help lead. What’s incredibly odd is, coming from top consulting companies, they offered me a very competitive salary but a MORE junior title than from my previous company. My former colleague who referred me to this role had the same title as me in the previous company, but were offered two levels up in the smaller company. I wouldn’t have taken the deal if it weren’t for such a terrible job market. I got my offer letter, but when I let them know I cannot start before a certain date due to being a federal employee until then, they completely ghosted me. I found out through my colleague that they were internally upset that they offered me a high salary (though it was the exact amount as what I was getting paid as a govvy….). HR communicated the offer sporadically and abruptly through TEXT messages and were rude and unpredictable. Katie aggressively pressed for me to reveal my current salary (I literally had my GS and step level info on my resume, not the smartest folks in HR). Overall, I walk away feeling thankful that I was blessed with a relatively professional HR departments in the first decade of my career and recognize a terrible HR when I see one.