Did they bait and switch on me?
Hi everyone. I was approached by a sr.director about 2 months ago and asked to interview for a manager level position at a boutique consulting firm. I then spoke with the recruiter who told me she did not believe I was qualified for a manager and instead I would be interviewing for a sr associate position. I thought this was fair enough as I only have 3 years of experience.
I went through the interview process (3 rounds + case) and thought I did quite well and got good live feedback. After this, I didn’t hear anything definitive from them for a month despite following up twice.
The recruiter called me out of the blue last week and asked if I’d be willing to take an associate level position due to my experience (or lack thereof, I guess.) I told her I would have to think about it and she urged me to speak to someone that’s currently an associate there. She said if it went well they would give me a formal offer. The next day she reached out again and said I would also have to do an excel test and then talk to an MD. Feeling really conflicted about this as I feel like it could be good experience, but they seem very unorganized for a firm that’s well regarded.
For context on my background, I work in CorpDev/Strategy in the industry the position is for. I’m not sure if this is a bait and switch situation or if I really don’t have the experience for a senior associate position?