I was recently interviewed for the Senior Frontend Developer position at Zalando. I did apply through Linkedin and had clearly mentioned my expectations in the application form. Zalando then sent me an online Codility test invitation and after completing the same, I was invited for an interview with the Engineering manager. Everything was good and then they invited me for the final round of 4 hours which consisted of different HR and technical rounds. First was the HR interview following a live coding challenge on React, and then a system design interview. I did pretty well in all of them (and even their feedback was the same). Two days later I was invited to the feedback meeting where HR told me that they can only offer up to a certain amount for this position. I told her that I did clearly mention my expectation in the form, for which she was not having an answer. They were ready to offer me 20K EUR less than was I asked for, which was totally unacceptable. What was more disappointing here is that they wasted my time that I cannot get back. They should not conduct the interview in the first place if they cannot afford what candidates ask for.

I first got an interview with HR. Then, They sent me a codility challenge. After that, I entered another interview with an engineering manager. I thought it ended well but I haven't received any letter from HR for more than a week. Even though companies might decide not to go further with the applicant, I think they still should inform the applicant about it.