Connected with the recruiter. He was very polite and helpful.

I mentioned I only have experience in Angular 2, not earlier versions.

The hiring manager was impressed with my background, and they moved forward with a HackerRank test.

That is where things fell apart. It was a timed challenge, a mix of all front-end concepts.

In the Angular section, there were questions on Angular 1.x version, also questions focusing more on syntax rather than concepts. Of course, I wouldn't have the best answers, as Angular 2 was written from scratch and is vastly different from other versions.

I got a rejection saying my answers were not competitive enough. Of course, they wouldn't be, as the questions were very specific to older methodologies, and I personally find it ridiculous.

Questions like this can say a lot about how "rigid" the team's mindset might be in assessing candidates and potentially on work.

Angular $scope syntax questions