I met via a Recruiter in Hong Kong, for the role of 'Native English Copywriter' aka 'Arup University Manager (Technical Branding)'. The entire interview process took over an hour, and seemed fruitful. The Recruiter, introduced me to the company, Arup, and the Recruiter reviewed all my credentials. The Recruiter said that most definitely I'll get an interview, because my background and experience are an EXCELLENT fit for the role. the Recruiter said the role had been open for 1 year! And they couldn't find anybody. the Recruiter did tell me that it would be a good sign if I don't hear back right away; they usually reject people after a day or two if they are unqualified for the role. So I waited. Several weeks go by, and still no interview/feedback. So I messaged the Recruiter and the Recruiter finally responded after a week. The recruiter told me that my application had been rejected by Arup. In fact, the Recruiter said that I had applied for the same role a year ago, and it too was rejected also. Therefore, no interview would be forthcoming. I didn't recall applying for the role of 'Arup University Manager (Technical Branding)' role before, so I went to the online system and sure enough it wasn't there. ALL the roles for which I had applied for showed: "Application under Consideration." This is the opposite of what the Recruiter had texted me. My enquiries to the Recruiter was unresponsive, as I tried to ask for clarification. So it seemed that there was a mistake made by someone - either HR or the Recruiter. I enquired with the local Arup office directly to double-check. I asked a very simple question, and yet I couldn't seem to get a straight answer. The following is some of what took place during the ~25 minute conversation: Each time I asked, HR would ask me another question. And each time I would answer HR's question, HR would use the opportunity to mockingly remind me that I wasn't going to be invited for an interview! HR only said that the 'Technical Writer' role and the 'Arup University Manager (Technical Branding)' are one in the same - only the title had changed. HR did confirm that my application was rejected a year ago. HR also said that they didn't want to pay the Recruiter's agency fee which is why they rejected my new application for the 'Manager' role. HR said the reason for the rejection was that my asking salary was too high and beyond their budget - I was asking HK$66K per month a year ago. However, the recruiter said the salary offered now (1 year later) is HK$75K per month. HR wasn't making any sense, because this isn't what the Recruiter told me during my visit to their office. HR then asked me for my expectations, and whether I'd consider a pay cut of 10 or 20%. I said of course I'd consider! Then HR mocked me for answering HR's question, and used the opportunity to repeat yet again that I wasn't being invited for an interview! Again, I repeatedly tried to explain that I was simply asking for a clarification because the online system is reflecting a different status from what they were telling me. HR said that they get millions of applications from candidates. If that's the case, then how do you explain then that the role hadn't yet been filled in over a YEAR?!! Especially with a candidate who was as qualified as I was, is right there talking to them?! It was a lengthy discussion, and a terribly unpleasant experience. Nevertheless, I politely thanked them for their time. It then got worse. Later, I visited my Career Profile on the company website, and noticed that the status for the 'Technical Writer' role from the year before had changed from "Application under Consideration" to "Application Regretted". Ouch!!! Well, if this is how HR treated its job candidates, I wonder how they treat their employees! You can bet that they now have a million and one less candidate who is interested in working for their company.