You’ve just found the perfect candidate to fill your company’s most important position. This candidate absolutely shined in your interview, possesses a resume that is absolutely flawless, and comes equipped with an exuberant personality that you truly believe will make your company an even better place to work.
There’s just one problem. Because of all these aforementioned qualities, you have reason to believe that you’re locked in fierce competition with other potential employers for this person’s services. How can you lock up the hire, and present the job offer in a fashion that the candidate cannot possibly say no?
Here are three tips we at Charles Foster recommends:
Always call. Never email.
For something that’s considered a milestone occasion in someone’s life, the more personable of a manner in which you can deliver the news, the better. Breaking such news to someone through an email is generally considered to be bad form and a very rough start to what could be a professional relationship. The implication you could be giving off is, “well, I guess they don’t have five minutes of their voice to share with me for this, so how can I know they’ll make time for me when I’m fighting against a tight deadline?” On top of all this, an email leaves no room for any back and forth with the candidate. That means you’ve left them no room to ask questions, and you may not have left them feeling inclined to ask any. The only possible exception to this is if you’re in a position where you have to hire hundreds of people all at once for entry-level positions. Even then, you should at least try and make the effort to call your prospective new employees, for all the above reasons and more.
Explain why they are the perfect candidate.
You were so enamored with them throughout the hiring process that you decided to make them an offer. Tell them that! Be sure to go into all the details about their experience and background, or even their personality, that drew you to want to work with them in the first place. Giving someone compliments about their background and their interviewing skills may not seem like much, but it could very well give off the impression that if the candidate does a great job in his or her professional role, you won’t hesitate to tell them so. And everybody loves being complimented for a job well done!
Ask if they have any questions.
You might be surprised by how important this is to prospective employees. But opening the floor for someone to ask questions- and if they have any questions, answering them truthfully- could make all the difference in the world for someone considering your opening. Failure to do so could leave a trust void, and give off the impression that you may have something to hide- even if that’s absolutely not the case. If necessary, be sure to offer them an opportunity to speak with anyone else within your organization to answer any other questions they may have.