I went through a recruiter screening and moved on to a hiring manager interview. The hiring manager was engaged and gave direct, positive feedback during the interview itself , told me I was a strong candidate, and we got into specifics on compensation, relocation, and onboarding. It genuinely felt like the process was moving forward. They even followed up with me on LinkedIn afterward about how positive the conversation had been. Then, nothing. I didn't hear a word for over a week. When I finally reached out to the recruiter myself, I was told I'd been rejected for insufficient technical depth. The interview wasn't a technical assessment, and it directly contradicted the positive feedback I'd been given live, in the room, by the same hiring manager. If you're going to tell a candidate they did well and then reject them for the opposite reason, that inconsistency deserves an explanation. At minimum, get your interviewers and recruiters aligned before candidates are sent two completely different stories.