Why Are Candidates Not Accepting Your Offers?
In a candidate poor marketplace, it’s getting harder than ever to secure top tier candidates.
If you’re a business owner or manager, there’s nothing more frustrating than getting excited about finding the perfect person for the role, only for them to reject your offer. At this stage, you’re faced with an unenviable choice: either accept a second-rate candidate or begin the recruitment process again. Neither of which is appealing right?
So, why is it happening? Why are these great candidates turning down your offer? You liked them, you thought they liked you; what went wrong at the final hour?
We’ve mentioned that it’s a candidate’s market at present, and that’s certainly part of it. But the candidate IS going to accept a role somewhere (quite possibly with your competitor), so what’s stopping them from accepting yours?
Here are some common reasons that candidates might reject your offer.
1. The interviewing panel haven’t sold the company
An interview is a two-way process and at times the interviewing panel or line manager forget that it is their responsibility to sell the role and company to each candidate. The market has changed.
The reality is candidates expect you to do this, in the same way that you are looking for the candidate to convince you that they are the right person for the role and your company.
Plan ahead of the interview what the company has to offer in terms of professional and career development, create a case study, communicate how you provide resources to support the new team member in their role, talk about the opportunities to work with leading accounts and clients in the market etc. The purpose of this is to get the candidates engaged and excited about what it will be like to work with you.
2. You haven’t briefed your recruitment company with enough information
The recruitment company puts a high-calibre candidate forward, believing it to be a great match, only for the candidate to get a surprise during the interview to find that the role is quite different than what they expected according to the original job description they saw.
Even more common is a culture mismatch, so be sure to have a frank discussion with your recruitment company about what kind of workplace culture you have and the kind of person who will be a great fit.
3. Your interview process Is deathly slow
Oh dear. Things started so well, you were narrowing down candidates and then a major project distracted you, pulling you away from making any hiring decisions.
Those final-round candidates are consigned to limbo, getting less and less fond of the company with every passing day they don’t hear from you with an answer.
You think they were excited about the role and will wait indefinitely. Unfortunately, in this market, you are mistaken. Keep your recruitment process moving and keep in contact with your prime candidates to explain what’s happening.
At the very least, keep your recruiter informed so they can let the candidates know and work with them to help manage the situation.
4. The compensation package is insufficient
While salary and benefits are far from the only driver leading candidate decision making, it would be foolish to think they don’t have a powerful part to play.
Unlike the recession era where everyone was scrambling for employment, good candidates currently have no incentive to accept anything that’s below industry benchmarks. Have a very careful look at how your salary offering relates to your industry standard.
If you don’t have the budget to offer more, create an incentive package that may include flexible hours, extra holiday time, accelerated training/promotion paths and performance based bonuses.
5. When it Comes time for the contract, everything changes
Contracts have a way of making many people feel nervous anyway so you really don’t want to scare people off when they read with alarm: ‘No holidays in the first 6 months, or ‘We have the right to transfer your place of work between our Salisbury and Manchester offices.’
All of this should be covered in the interview and through the recruitment consult you are using so there are no surprises.
6. You rush them to a decision
You’re so keen on your chosen candidate that you make a fast decision and offer the role with an expected answer of “yes”, there and then.
To a candidate, this can feel rushed with a sense that not all is well in your organisation if you want a decision immediately.
Be considered yet friendly about it and acknowledge their position. ‘We understand that this is a big decision for you. We’re very happy with our decision and we’re hoping you’ll join us but we’d hate to put pressure on you. So, take a breather and think about it. We like you enough to wait a few days.’
Wouldn’t you feel great if you heard that? And if you were the candidate, wouldn’t it make you more likely to say yes?
Finding great candidates is hard enough. Losing them is worse. A specialist recruitment consultancy can help you avoid every single one of these common pitfalls and secure your perfect candidate.
About First 2 Recruit Ltd
First 2 Recruit Ltd, is an owner managed recruitment consultancy providing a full recruitment service including; permanent and FTC position in Accountancy Practice and Insolvency across the UK.
If you like this blog, why not check out more by visiting our Blog page on our website, we cover every recruitment topic and also have free reports and whitepapers that you might find useful. Visit www.first2recruit.co.uk
Alternatively, email office@first2recruit.co.uk or call one of our friendly team on 01722 440 168.