The initial interview with the Creative Director was one of the best I've ever had. The interviewer was personable, transparent, funny, and truly engaged in the conversation.
Unfortunately, the follow up interview was the exact opposite experience. The second interviewer kept to the questions without any back and forth. When discussing salary, the response was shifty. The conversation was cold and clinical, but I brushed it off as a an all business bookkeeping approach.
This second interviewer formally made an offer that was below my last salary, which I was transparent about being uncomfortable with. I was told that the difference was made up for in benefits, although I had voiced they would not apply to me (still on family's insurance under Obama policy). After negotiation, a second number was reached, but the arithmetic was wrong and fell short of where I was told it would land. Not sure if this was an intentional tactic to keep a numbers conversation going, but I felt dragged along. I took this as a red flag and moved on. Truly a bummer after such a great vibe from the first interviewer, but management was on another page.