I've Received Your Job Offer -- And Frankly, I'm Horrified

Dear Liz,
I’ve just completed an arduous interview process that included three face-to-face interviews in Chicago (where I live and where the job is based), one trip to the company’s New York headquarters
and three additional  Skype or telephone interviews.
I received the company’s offer letter today (via email from the HR Manager), and was I ever deflated!
The salary is six thousand dollars less per year than what the hiring manager Alan and I talked about. There’s no mention of a bonus plan, even though Alan spoke at some length about the management bonus plan, which he is proud of. I guess he designed it.
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They offered me a car allowance of $500/month which I had never heard about before and wasn’t expecting, but that’s only $6000 per year and my bonus would be much greater than that.
To add insult to injury, the job title listed in my offer letter is Senior Manager although Alan told me the job is a Director role.
I was horrified that Alan would offer me less than the salary number he and I had talked about, and not even mention the bonus plan in my offer letter! How could I possibly sign this offer? I’m not sure what to do. Thanks for any advice you can share!

It is beyond frustrating to slog through a long recruiting process and then receive a disappointing job offer at the end. However, I would hate for you to jump to the conclusion that Alan is trying to pull a fast one or that he doesn’t value your expertise.
No  company that flies a candidate to its out-of-town headquarters and puts them through multiple face-to-face and virtual interviews makes a job offer with the hope or expectation that the candidate will turn the offer down. That wouldn’t make business sense. Alan wants you on his team, and I recommend that you give him the benefit of the doubt for your own sake as well as his.
Write to Alan or leave him a voicemail message and say “Hello, Alan! This is Rebecca Martinez. I got your offer letter and I’m eager to talk with you about it. Please call me when you can.” Don’t assume that Alan is trying to low-ball you.
There are a lot of moving parts in any organization, as you know. Wires may have been crossed between Alan and his HR Manager. The six-thousand-dollar discrepancy between your offer letter and your conversation with Alan may be attributable to a clerical mistake. The same is true for the bonus plan description and the difference in job titles.
Would a series of clerical mistakes during your job-offer-extension process  be alarming enough to get you to decline the role if those mistakes were quickly corrected?
I suppose some job-seekers would see clerical mistakes in a document as important as an offer letter as big red flags, and I don’t blame them — but if you like Alan and the opportunity, why not take the steps in order? Don’t assume bad intent. Keep an open mind!

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First, check in with Alan to make sure that you and he are on the same page with respect to your job title and compensation plan, including your base and bonus. Clear those major issues up first, and then let Alan know that you need information on the company benefits, too.
If Alan moves quickly to get you a corrected offer letter, you can restart your take-the-job-or-not decision  process.

If not, one phone call will let you know where you and Alan are out of sync.
In the worst case — which is not so bad — there was no clerical error, and Alan somehow thought that you would take the job for the salary he put in your offer letter, along with no bonus and a different job title than you were expecting.

That would be disappointing to learn, but not nearly as disappointing as accepting the job and only then realizing that the people you’re working with are not to be trusted. If you had to start the job to find that out, you’d really be mad!

It is a gift (although a painful one) to learn that what we thought was true is not actually true. I hope that Alan is simply out of step with his HR person,  but if Mother Nature doesn’t want you to take that job, the botched offer letter will turn out to be a good thing.
I’m  sure you’d rather get a horrifying offer letter and turn down the offer than receive a less-horrifying offer, take the job and step into a horrifying experience as a new employee working for unethical and/or incompetent leaders.
Either way — whether Alan fixes your offer letter and you take the job, or he doesn’t fix it and you decline the offer — you win!
All the best,

source - http://www.forbes.com