They don’t have HR so recruitment is done through a 3rd party called EHS Hospitality. Recruiter emailed me asking for a phone screen the next day after my application. We talked, and then discussed salary requirements and I mentioned that their max offer was my target. My resume and experience basically overqualified me for the role, but due to a gap she insisted that I wasn’t worth the money and to not dare ask the company (DMK) for more than the minimum. She then tried to negotiate a gag order on me saying, “you can’t agree with me to take 45k now and then go and tell them you want 50k because that looks bad on my career”. I wasn’t aware this was about her, or that theyre interested in launching a food hall with a person that would be so passive in a role where negotiation is key. I did a F2F with the director of ops that went excellently, I enjoyed the conversation completely. I got to meet the CEO, and see the Corp office (very small). They immediately moved forward and then I was to meet in person with another person higher up. On this interview I was 15min early and called the contact. He first complained I was early but then thanked me for my timing all in one sentence and said he’d be right down. He ended up being 30 minutes late despite him being one floor away from me. He made zero eye contact the entire time and even asked me to be less professional in my delivery half way in to the convo. Long story short his behavior very much oozed that sort of “I thought you weren’t a minority” feeling and sure enough, despite the rapid progression in my process it came to a screeching halt right there. Then I was told that the position had been filled. Position went right back up about a week later and I applied again and asked to be considered further. I was told “they just didn’t think you would be successful in this role” so they are asking for “other” candidates. **Update: They posted the same position again in November, now offering 50k to 60k salary. When I interviewed I was told 50k was the maximum and there was no way I could dare to ask for it. Now it’s the minimum.