Seems like a complete disconnect between the hiring manage/team and the recruiting HR. Thorough questions on screening call to vet our candidacy. There after a coding exercise for nodejs and sql was shared and asked to submit and share the github repo link so that HM can assess further. I did that in one sitting and Post task submission, I was asked availability slots for next round and for a walkthrough and deep dive of the coding exercise and others round would follow. Suddenly the next day I get an email saying they will pursue other candidates. I asked the reason for this abrupt change as I was already one or 2 steps into the interview. No clear explanation given and only bogus reasoning was shared. I did not understand why they would ask for an 30-40mins long assessment if HM and team is not ok to proceed. Waste of time.