4 ways an employer can ruin a job offer

Finding the ideal candidate to offer a job to, isn’t an easy task. Actually it can be very, very difficult task (especially in a candidate driven market)

There are certainly many things you can do to make the job easier, but unfortunately there are quite a few things that a company can do to make the job even harder.

If you’re responsible for finding and hiring fresh new talent to your organisation please take note of the following 4 things that may hinder rather than help:

4 Major mistakes a company can make:

1. Too many interviews

A drawn out interview process can be a pain for a candidate and should be avoided if possible (but we do appreciate they can be a necessity in certain circumstances).

Make every stage of interviewing count and ask your most important questions early in the process. Also try to get any major decision makers within the company to join the interview as early as possible.

Too many stages of interview spread over a long period of time can cause a loss of ‘momentum’ for both yourselves and the candidates. A good candidate is usually taking time away from their current job, so it helps to be mindful of this too.

2. Making your offer several weeks after interview

Perhaps a drawn out interview process is a necessity, but what shouldn’t be a necessity is waiting several weeks after the final round of interviews to make a job offer to your top candidate/s. Nobody wants to feel like the second (or third) choice. Taking an excessive amount of time to contact a candidate may give the impression that you only made the offer because you couldn’t secure your first (or second) choice. Alternatively, if you make your job offer quickly and make that candidate feel sought after, you’ll maximize your chance of getting the offer accepted.

3. The salary offer is too low

Everyone has salary expectations and want to be paid their worth. Internal salary limiting policies shouldn’t be set in stone. Losing the ideal candidate because you didn’t want to push the salary a little higher is not ideal, especially considering the extra cost of starting the search all over again.

Also, if you do make a candidate a fair offer, have an open mind if they still want to negotiate. Paying a little extra for a great candidate can be money well spent and should be viewed as a long term investment.

4. Demanding a quick response

Strong-arming a candidate into accepting a job offer before they are ready is a recipe for disaster. It’s understandable you want to get a response as quickly as possible, but rigidly sticking to a fast turnaround time on a job offer is not necessarily the way to do it. You do not want your brand new employee to have a ‘what-if’ feeling before they even start. Giving a candidate enough time to contemplate helps ensure that they have weighed the pros and cons and made an informed decision.

A job offer should feel exhilarating, but the way you conduct yourself before hand can easily dampen that spirit. Be mindful of the other party during the whole process. This should be the beginning of a wonderful relationship – some thoughtful care and attention will help the magic last.

Vanilla will help to guide you through the full process of recruitment, and we use our wealth of expertise and knowledge to ensure the best results possible. Contact us if you’d like to discuss anything further.