Last year in a moment of career uncertainty I applied for a job at Meta, I think it was a M1 role …

>I know they pay very low comp in the UK compared to US What else did you expect? US wages in UK/EU? They don't pay higher wages in the US out of the goodness of their hearts, they pay it because the US market forces them to. They'd gladly pay European wages or below in the US if they could get away with it.

I had a similar experience. * bad recruiter, communicated poorly, mishandled scheduling * interviewer was ice cold when I started performing poorly, could not hide is impatience to end ASAP * ghosted I get the impression the top tech companies also have the worst recruiting practices.

That sounds like the sort of broad hiring practice that large corporations sometimes do to select recent graduates: a general filter of candidates, followed by managers picking the nost promising candidates, and a final round of interviews with one or more teams that are interested in you. Salary is unrealistic to discuss early when they don't know which specific role you will be filling, and how much they want you. That said, for more experienced people the process tends to be much more personalized, to the point where the very first person you talk to may be the hiring manager or their superior.

> I found the whole process pretty dystopian And you didn't even go to the office and see the Orwellian "MOVE FAST AND BREAK THINGS" and "WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WEREN'T AFRAID" posters, or the internal newsletters put over the urinals, so you can read about HHVM while taking a leak.

That's very odd that they didn't give you a comp range. I know that when I interviewed with them they gave me ballparks for a few levels which was helpful in my decision making.