Make sure you send the offer out immediately
The Ashdown Group place hundreds of people at hundreds of companies all over the UK, every year. We know a thing or two about presenting offers of employment - it’s what we do on a daily basis.
There are a number of things that contribute to an offer of employment being declined:
- Don’t be tempted to offer someone in an interview
- Offers made after just one face to face interview are often declined
- Don’t offer a lower salary than the salary we agreed with the candidate prior to you conducting your 1st and 2nd stage interviews
Don’t be tempted to offer someone in an interview
Discussing money can be awkward. It’s much better to leave the presentation of an offer to us, after all we’ve built a relationship with the person we’ve introduced and have information about other interviews that have been attended, their approximate locations and salary on offer – we can help someone weigh two offers up fairly and will do our best to present your opportunity in the most favourable way possible.
(We don’t however have specific company names or make an effort to use the information given to us to our advantage in an effort to pick up business – the Ashdown Group operate a strictly ethical code).
Offers made after just one face to face interview are often declined
For most the process hasn’t taken enough time. People like to think things through for a week or so while they’re attending 1st and 2nd interviews – they need to think carefully about the company and the role they’ve interviewed for and it’s responsibilities and how joining you and your business will be financially rewarding, interesting and good for their career.
Those that have had to fight to get a job are also more likely to accept than those that are offered without needing to show much effort. Second interviews are good for everybody.
Don’t offer a lower salary
The salary offered should be no lower than we agreed with the candidate prior to you conducting your 1st and 2nd stage interviews - lots of companies offer exactly what an interviewee has initially asked for. If the person you’ve interviewed is lucky enough to be choosing between your lower offer and another offer presented by another company that is exactly what the candidate is looking for, understandably, the candidate is likely to take the higher offer.
Why blow everything for the sake of offering £1,000 less than someone’s ideally looking for – it will cost you time, effort and money. It’s stressful and draining to start the entire recruitment process again.
We advise those we introduce to be realistic about salary. If we think someone is being too ambitious, we’ll make that clear. We won’t introduce someone if we think salary expectation is unrealistic.
< Return to Advice Centre > Writing an offer letter
