Whether the recruitment process was fast or slow, straightforward or strenuous, it’s an exciting time when you finally make an offer on a candidate you feel fits the bill perfectly and wait with baited breath for an answer! However, from our experience, unfortunately some companies can be their own worst enemies in the battle for the best talent through some easily avoidable mistakes.
In a candidate driven market, where top quality permanent professionals are few and far between and there is lots of competition for their services, we’ve put together some key points hiring managers should keep in mind to ensure that the official job offer remains an exciting experience and in turn you can maximise your chances of hiring the person you want.
Waiting is no fun, even to the most patient person. If weeks pass after a job interview before you finally put that offer on the table, the enthusiasm that candidate has for your company could have been seriously dampened. Plus, you might miss out on a candidate to competition! The digital marketplace is competitive, it is common for many of our candidates to be in the running for 3-4 jobs at any one time, be organised and be in a position to make decisions where needed, if you don’t someone else will. By taking too long to make an offer, you may just end up losing out.
Candidates understand that it will take you some time to make a decision about who you want to hire. After all, job offers are rarely made on the spot at the end of a job interview. So it’s only fair to give the candidate some time to think through your offer before accepting the job. It’s our Guru’s jobs to let you know what else the candidate has going on and at what stage they are at with other companies. However, If you set an unreasonable deadline, the candidate may feel strong-armed into making a decision and start second guessing themselves before even starting the new job.
More often than not, candidates don’t have unreasonable expectations when it comes to salary and our Gurus make sure they manage expectations throughout the recruitment process. However, if you offer a candidate less than they are worth, it can easily turn excitement into disappointment and even if you up the offer later on, the damage may already be done. Make a fair offer to avoid turning off the candidate – which will also save you the cost of doing another search or having to hire a less qualified person.