- Hiring manager messaged me on LinkedIn to confirm salary expectations before scheduling recruiter call to ensure we did not waste anyone's time. - Received invite for recruiter call. - On recruiter call (she definitely was not a recruiter), I was told I'd be speaking with the hiring manager next, confirmed salary expectations, and she told me to hold all of my questions for the HM. It was so weird not being able to ask even one question to the recruiter. - A few days later, I got a rejection email stating it was because we were not aligned on salary. Why waste both of our times if that was the case?