I interviewed for a C++ position at this company, and while they say that I knocked my interview out of the park, they also say that I am too senior for the position. Instead they would like to offer me a job programming in PHP. Unfortunately my PHP experience is limited. Because of this, they are expecting me to take a significant drop in salary with the hope that I will master PHP within a year and be promoted at my first annual performance review.

I don't believe that this is reasonable.

I agree with Joel when he writes, "Don’t look for experience with particular technologies." If they thought I was such a superstar, then they should have realized that I am capable of being productive in PHP within weeks, not a year! It seems like just an excuse to underpay me.

Notwithstanding the fact that I was insulted by this offer, I think that I would be taking on much more risk than they would be; they won't guarantee what my post-PHP salary would be.

What does the Stack Exchange community think about this offer? Would you take it?