Why Your Candidate Turned Down Your Offer (And How to Prevent It)

ThinkstockPhotos-467357409After investing time and effort, you finally found “the one.” The perfect person for the job.

Then things take a surprising turn when your candidate declines your offer – prompting flashbacks to when your high school crush turned down your invitation to the prom.

The race for talent is on. In today’s candidate-driven market, competition is fierce and hiring managers are seeing more rejected job offers than previous years. Why? Below are the four most common reasons, according to a survey from CareerBuilder, along with ways you can increase your offer acceptance rate.

  1. Another job offer came in

The most common reason that candidates turn down jobs is that they receive other offers. And the reason that they receive multiple job offers is usually due to slow hiring processes. While candidates wait for you, they look into other options and lose interest in your company.

To remedy the situation, review your hiring process to make sure that it’s aggressive. Candidates will not always suspend their job search for you. It’s also important to be upfront about your timeline. According to CareerBuilder, 58% of employers don’t communicate how long the interview process will take. You need to set expectations.

To streamline your processes, consider partnering with a staffing agency. An agency helps maintain momentum and serves as another source of communication with the talent – in other words, you can get a heads up when candidates are getting antsy. While an agency may appear to be “pushy” when advising you to move quickly on a candidate, their motives are sincere. It’s their job to help you optimize the narrow window of opportunity with top talent.

PREMIUM CONTENT: 2015 North America Staffing Company Survey: Initial Findings

  1. Compensations and/or benefits didn’t meet expectations

Candidates are more informed about today’s market rates and have expectations for what they should be paid. If your offers don’t meet their requirements, they’ll turn you down.

Expectations can be managed with upfront, honest communication. Include a salary range and an overview of your benefits package within job postings. Include other benefits, such as stock options or generous PTO programs, to illustrate the total value of your compensation package.

  1. A counter-offer came in from the current employer

Many times you’re not only competing with offers from other companies, but with counter-offers from the candidates’ current employers. When employees feel unappreciated or “stuck,” they will often apply for a new job in order to gain leverage. Be prepared to offer salary and benefits packages that current employers are not likely to beat.

Likewise, to help prevent your current employees from looking elsewhere, make sure they feel valued. Give employees a sense of control by discussing their career paths and allowing them to know what to expect in the years to come.

job offer decline

Source: CareerBuilder

  1. The location is undesirable

This one can be tricky. Even if you include your office location on the job posting, candidates may be willing to make the commute… until they make the drive to the interview in the thick of rush hour.

While this scenario can’t always be avoided, it’s important to include the location on the job posting – the full address, not just the city. If you offer flexible work options, such as working from home a few days per week or variable work hours, communicate these in the job posting and during the interview. This may make a longer commute more appealing.

Rejected job offers are inevitable, yet there are a number of things you can do to increase your success rate. When an offer is declined, ask for a reason why. It’s important to understand how you can improve. Also consider partnering with a staffing agency to help manage the hiring process. You’ll only get top candidates, which enables you to expedite your hiring timeline and, as a result, get more accepted offers from top candidates.

MORE: Technology is driving changes in client expectations

 

 

Chip Gabbey

Chip Gabbey
Chip Gabbey as vice president of Pro Staff – Wisconsin/Illinois.

Chip Gabbey

Share This Post

Tweet

Related Articles

4 Responses to “Why Your Candidate Turned Down Your Offer (And How to Prevent It)”

  1. […] recent CareerBuilder survey of 400 staffing industry professionals shed some light on this issue. According to 39 percent of […]

  2. […] fter investing time and effort, you finally found “the one.” The perfect person for the job.Then things take a surprising turn when your candidate declines your offer – prompting flashbacks to when your high school crush turned down your invitation to the prom.The race for talent is on. In today’s candidate-driven market, competition is fierce and hiring managers are seeing more rejected job offers than previous years. Why? Below are the four most common reasons, according to a survey from CareerBuilder, along with ways you can increase your offer acceptance rate.  […]

  3. […] To read the full article from Pro Staff’s Chip Gabbey, click here. […]

  4. […] To read the full article from Pro Staff’s Chip Gabbey, click here. […]

Powered by staffingindustry.com ·