I was contacted by the recruiter via LinkedIn regarding the position. My first screening call with them included a discussion on salary expectations, where I confirmed I was looking for at least £65k. The recruiter assured me this was within budget. A week or so later, I had a positive Teams interview with the Head of HR, followed by an in-person meeting with the General Manager in Rugby. Both conversations went really well, and I was even offered the role on the spot. The overall process took just under 2 months. Unfortunately, when the official offer came through, the salary was £15k less than what had originally been discussed. This made it impossible for me to accept. It was very frustrating to have invested so much time, especially as I had recently been made redundant and had paused my wider job search based on the confidence I felt from our discussions. The process also felt very drawn out, with repeated delays and having to chase after being told I would hear back within certain timeframes. After declining the offer, I even followed up with the Head of HR to provide constructive feedback (highlighting the salary mismatch and communication challenges), but I never received a response. This left a poor final impression of what had otherwise been a positive interview experience.