The core mistake here is that the applicant thought that he had far more leverage than he had. From the companies point of view they are taking on an entry leve

The core mistake here is that the applicant thought that he had far more leverage than he had. From the companies point of view they are taking on an entry level employee and they feel he should be grateful for the opportunity they presented. They want an entry level person to be low maintenance. Instead, by the end of the week, they had the impression he was a major pain in the backside. They are thinking to themselves, this man is going to be high maintenance and constantly thinking about himself and not the team or the long term. I would have rescinded his offer as well and considered myself lucky to had dodged a bullet.