I had applied for a managing consultant position and received a screening call from the recruiter. They had gone through my experience and what they were looking for and put me forward for a first stage interview. I had undergone the first stage which was a competency based interview with glowing feedback and was put through to the second stage. The second stage consisted of a case study based interview which again had glowing feedback and were pleased to put me through to the third stage. I then conducted the third stage interview which was a presentation followed by Q&A with the managing director. I had conducted the interview and it went well again with feedback that it was overwhelmingly positive however it was decided that the managing director had a little bit of a concern that I will need some support when starting and won't be able to be independent and operate alone from day one. As a result, they were going to offer me a position 2 levels below what I had originally applied for and at a pay cut of over £20,000. I had expressed that anyone coming into any new company will not only undergo a probation period for them to analyse if they are a good fit after all the interviews but there will no matter what have to have an adjustment period to the company, their methods of working, the culture etc and cannot just pick up perfectly from day one unless it was an internal recruit. I had also expressed that my experience was not an issue through the hours spent in preparation and conducting all the 3 interviews over the last 3 weeks and its only now at offer stage that it has become a concern. I mentioned that I am happy to prove myself and showcase my hard work and tenacity that I am right for the role and have showcased my skill levels throughout with feedback always being positive. Nevertheless I was told this was the position of the director and there wasn't any plan on moving this decision. I turned down the offer as it wasn't feasible for me financially to accept a £20,000 pay cut and not to mention the reason for not only dropping me one level but two levels was just due to a slight concern in needing a little support. I was gutted to be fair as the companies values and environment seemed like a really good fit for me and I saw myself pursuing a career here but I am also more gutted that I spent hours on preparation for the case study and presentation which felt like it was a waste of my time to be fair.