I had a 30 minute phone interview with HR that went stellar. I had a 2nd 75-minute interview that was friendly and conversational. The interviewer spoke very positively about my background and indicated I was a strong finalist for the role and that they wanted me. I asked a couple questions right after that hadn't been answered. During the conversation, it was acknowledged that this branch is on the lowest of the company’s three pay tiers despite being in a higher cost-of-living area. There were also several questions about my other prospects and what they were offering, which felt more focused on benchmarking compensation than evaluating fit. When I asked about employee retention, the response didn’t really address the question, rather he just chatted about most employees general lives for a while. I was asked for my pay expectations and shared what another company's range was. I was told there might be some flexibility and that the interviewer would speak with management and follow up the next week, but he still wanted me. Instead of a conversation, I received a brief message a few days later that they had decided to pursue another candidate, without additional feedback. Overall, the interview itself was friendly, but the compensation discussion and follow-up communication felt inconsistent and left expectations unclear. I felt like something was off a couple times with how they responded in the interview.