Applied via recruitment agency. Initial interview with finance team. Questions around experience, skills, knowledge, why I think I'm suitable for the role and what I can bring to the role and the company. Second interview was with 2 senior managers/directors in the company. Asked similar questions but less financially focused. Focused on what value I could bring to the company and how I have made improvements in my current role and how I could make improvements in this role. Overall to assess whether I would be a good fit for the company. I came out of both interviews feeling really positive and excited. I was offered the role, however I was offered a lower salary than advertised (10% less). I was quite shocked and disappointed by this as this is not an experience I have had before when being offered a role, nor was it mentioned to me at any point during the 2 interviews I had attended. I decided to decline the offer as the salary was now below my expectations. The reason I had been given for the lower offer was due to cost savings. I still decided to decline as advertised salary was banded anyway and I was offered below the lowest band of the salary. Also, if cost savings were the reason, why advertise at a higher salary than you're going to offer? Overall as a candidate the interview experience was really positive, but my experience at the offer stage really left me with a negative impression on the company. A better approach could've been taken to avoid this.