The Issues with Extending Job Offers Too Late

October 2011, Joe Plocharczyk, Pine Lake Solutions

With the demand for technical and sales talent in digital advertising these days I wonder why, after completing many rounds of interviews and deciding to hire a candidate, it takes more than three days to come out with an offer. Why wait? You lose momentum from the last interview with every minute that goes by. Take advantage of the moment and make the offer you intend to make within 24 hours of the candidate’s final interview. Otherwise you run the risk of stunting the momentum you’ve worked so hard to create and souring the experience for the job seeker.

Everyone has been in this situation: you go to a restaurant, you have a great meal, the experience and vibe of the place is amazing and the wait staff is very friendly, timely and informative. Then you finish your meal and your cocktail and you wonder where that wonderful waiter went. It’s obvious that the server is busy with other tables, but all they need to do is get the check for you and you’ll be out the door! As time goes on, the great dining experience you had turns sour and while it won’t completely ruin the experience it will stick in your mind and be the last thing you remember about the place. All that hard work the server put in at the beginning is forgotten and his tip will, no doubt, be drastically reduced.

Similarly, while the job seeker reflects on the interviewing experience and wonders why it’s taking so long to make a decision, they start resenting how long they’re being made to wait. Put yourself in the shoes of a job seeker after a final round interview. Imagine that you felt it went very well and maybe the hiring manager even said that they will be getting back to you shortly with an offer or a positive decision. A day passes, then two days, then the weekend.

Here’s the job seeker’s thought process:

• They’re interviewing other candidates so I should check out other options to see if there’s anything better out there.
• Did I say something that put them off in the final interview? It wasn’t a technical interview so maybe they just didn’t like me and were putting on a fake façade.
• I have an offer already from my #2 choice. Since my #1 choice is taking so long I had better accept the offer from my #2. After all, a bird in hand is better than two in the bush!
• If they take this long to make a decision, how do they make other decisions?
• Do I want to work for someone that can’t make up their mind?

Ultimately you can see that letting a candidate sit for too long is not a good thing. Job seekers are not wine or cheese! They’re people who want to be hired. I understand that larger companies have processes in place for a reason and an approval strategy must be gone through before any offers are extended, but you can get all of that done before the final round interview. You can get ready to go so you can make a timely decision.

Here are some other tips:

• Allow your agency to get verbal acceptance (compensation aside) and let the job seeker know that once you get verbal acceptance you will generate the offer letter.
• Alert your hiring “party” that you have a candidate that you’re strongly considering, in order to get the necessary paperwork out of the way before the final round interview.
• If you’re working with an agency make sure that they set the proper expectations with the job seeker ahead of time so it doesn’t become a frustrating “hurry up and wait” scenario. Stay in close communication with your recruiters.
• Follow up with the job seeker and/or their agent every day to update them on what’s happening. The worst thing you can do is let the job seeker simmer without any updates.

In a perfect world you’d find a job seeker that you want to hire and you’d make them an offer. There are certain procedures for doing things that you must adhere to but don’t let them stand in the way of hiring the right candidate. The market is, once again, incredibly competitive for good candidates and sometimes the only thing that keeps you from getting the candidate you want is the slowness of your hiring process.