Gensler interview questions

The interviewer was very friendly and professional. Lasted about an hour and was all very positive, i was verbally invited back for another interview. However the following evening i received an email from hr that they could not meet my current nor expected salary and were not going to progress the application.

I first submitted my portfolio to a contact who had been referred by a professor. I also applied separately to the Strategist role, so at this point I have no idea if they were interviewing solely based on the referral or the application. The questions were standard but I'm wondering why they interviewed at all. The contact rescheduled three times, which was a red flag in and of itself. They seemed unprepared during the meeting, and if they'd already viewed my portfolio (and I don't think they had), they should possibly have already known the majority of my experience is in interface design and not the "branding" design they seem to tout. I find it bothersome when people are late. I know we're all busy, but if you can't make it on time to a quick conference call, don't attend at all. I was mostly just curious to speak with them, but the entire endeavor felt like an empty waste of time or possibly as if they were doing me some kind of favor. All in all, not impressed and possibly the largest waste of time (interview-wise) thus far.