There was a phone call with the R&D Director, followed by a presentation interview with the rest of the Toronto team including sales and marketing, and finally an interview with the MD. I was very disappointed at this organisation, as I really enjoyed getting to know the team. After a whole month of the interview process, and a full presentation (which they compensated me for) later, they only asked me about the salary in the third interview, which was with the MD. I brought it up in the second interview and I was told that I'd have to wait till I spoke to the MD. Usually, companies should tell you what their range is, but I told them I was expecting x amount since they asked -- to which he replied that it might not be possible, but he will speak to his CEO. I said sure, I was interested to hear what he can offer. Salaries are obviously negotiated, but two weeks after this final interview, they get back to me with an email saying sorry we really tried to make your salary work but we couldn't. Thank you for your time and hopefully we get a chance to work together. Honestly, I was quite stumped since I obviously was open to negotiate. I immediately responded back and asked what their range was and I was happy to have a conversation. It's been over a week and I am obviously not going to hear back from them. The only thing this could mean is that they decided to go ahead with another candidate, which is disappointing but totally alright, but couldn't figure out how to say no to me, so used my salary expectation as an excuse. If they truly did mean that they couldn't offer me the salary I asked, that also doesn't paint them in a great light since they never told me what they could afford and rejected it on behalf of me, which I do not appreciate and is also not how things are done in a hiring process. It was a confusing experience to say the least, and the fact that I didn't even get a response was hurtful as I truly got along with the team, or so I thought. I understand they're a small team and probably don't do a lot of hiring, but please try to be clear in your communication as to why you're not going ahead with a certain candidate, instead of blaming it on arbitrary things. It's not professional or respectful.