Disappointments and problems with offers

For future students of the course “IT-Recruiter” prepared a traditional translation of the article. We also invite you to visit an open lesson on the topic “How to speak with a team lead in a coaching style?”

Your candidate has just passed the last interview – hurray! You receive information from the client that he is ready to proceed to the verification stage and then hire the candidate whom you brought. You did it! Or not?

Recruiters know the dangers of celebrating a victory before the final recruitment of a candidate. Very exciting! You have put in a lot of effort to find a candidate who fits all the requirements and made sure that the client and the candidate are interested in each other. And this should be noted!

However, like many other recruiters, I also made a mistake and started celebrating, but it turned out that the offer remained an offer because the candidate eventually refused. This is the case with the best of us, but there are things we can do to reduce the likelihood of a candidate turning down an offer.

Competitive job offers

First, first consider the offers that came to the candidate and which may compete with yours. If you are confident that you can refer the candidate to the hiring manager, talk to the candidate about what stage of the interview he is at the moment. Ask the candidate what he thinks about your offer and competitors. This will allow you to return to the manager with all the information you need to successfully complete your interview.

When discussing competitive offers with a candidate, explain to him why you are doing this. Some candidates in the past have faced a negative experience of interacting with a recruiter, therefore they do not trust him with information that, in their opinion, can be used against the candidates themselves. It is important to explain that you are using this information to provide help on the contrary. This information can be used to get a higher salary, speed up the interview process, or other perks like telecommuting, for example. If a candidate realizes that you are on the same side of the barricades, they are more likely to be frank when talking about competitors’ offers.

Keep asking for competitive bids in every call or email you exchange with a candidate. If you are consistent in checks, then the likelihood that the candidate will suddenly run away from you is greatly reduced.

Permanent contact

Constant contact is essential to keep your candidate on the hook throughout the hiring process. Ideally, check in every couple of days. So the candidate will not feel forgotten or think that his candidacy is irrelevant. You build a trusting relationship with the candidate, keeping him informed at every step, even if you haven’t received updated information from the client. You can also be aware of the whole situation from the side of the candidate.

Once you build a relationship of trust with the candidate – the assurance that you will partner with him and represent his interests – you can negotiate the perfect offer for him. If you lack trust, then the candidate may not ask you to talk to the employer about any option that is important to him in the job offer. As a result, the candidate may run away from you on the home stretch.

No guarantees

Even if you follow all of the above recommendations, you can still lose the candidate. If you do your best to build trust with the candidate, stay on top of the competitive offers that are coming in and bring them to the stage of the final job offer from your client, you still did a great job and you have a lot to be happy about.

Despite the frustration of running away from the candidate, you still managed to prove to the client that you are able to provide them with what they are looking for. Moreover, you can take advantage of what you have learned about software and hard skills while searching for a candidate with a similar profile. This way you can be more confident in the candidate whose interests you represent and avoid mistakes that you have already encountered in the past.