Had a good telephone interview where I was asked for my definition of an IT architect. The interviewer commented that it was the best definition he'd heard, so I was immediately offered a face to face interview. The interview was a weird experience as the guy stuck to a pre-prepared list of questions. He made a point of not asking for my salary expectation, but rather concentrated on my present and much higher salary - more about that later. He seemed to use the time to not try to gather information about me, but to rather tell me HOW things at CSC are done. He had his own views on various topics and methods, which he wanted me to agree with - which I didn't. However, I felt compelled to 'nod' regularly as he seemed to like the power and sound of his own voice. At the end of the interview, he commented on how well it had gone and that he had given positive feedback. I left thinking that I had definitely done enough to secure a role there. After two weeks of contacting their recruitment department, I recieved no feeback whatsoever about the role. Then finally I had the news that I didn't secure a role, which happens so i wasn't overly disappointed. However, I was then told that the reason was my SALARY EXPECTATION. This I couldn't believe as I had not set an expectation. When I went back to them, I was told that the hiring manager would not reconsider and so essentially I was stuffed. A salary was not agreed with the recruitment department as I was told that somewhere around my existing base was an acceptable range. My advise to anyone is to ensure that you set a good salary with the recruiter, making sure that you leave the door open to negiotation. Use a good external agency as they will be able to fight your case if the internal recruitment team mess up, as they did in my case.