I applied for a GM position. My application was turned down almost immediately. However, in almost 2 months, I was contacted by the Talent Acquisition (TA) team regarding the role I had applied for. The TA representative stated that in order to progress my application, she would like to have a brief 15-minute conversation to discuss my skills and experience. So, we connected, and she asked a few HR-related questions. She didn’t discuss the company or the role itself, but at the end of the conversation, she asked for my salary expectations. I explained that I would prefer to interview first and then discuss salary. She replied that, to avoid wasting anyone's time, she needed to know my salary expectations upfront, otherwise, I would not be able to move forward in the process. I politely asked if she could provide a pay range, since there was none listed when I applied for the role. She responded that she did not have it and reiterated that they wouldn’t proceed without knowing my expectations. While I understand that employers may want to gauge a candidate's salary expectations, I believe it is unfair and unprofessional for a recruiter to require this information without providing a pay range themselves. They cannot expect you to provide a specific figure when they haven’t disclosed one. In my opinion, this could be a red flag and suggests either poor communication or a lack of preparation on their part. She advised that she get back to me in 3-5 days. After not hearing from her for almost three weeks, I sent a couple of follow-up emails requesting a status update, but those also went unanswered. A month later, I finally received a response stating that they had decided not to move me forward in the recruitment process. The entire process felt unprofessionally handled, and I am frustrated by how the situation was managed, especially the prolonged silence and lack of timely communication.