Why Candidates are Rejecting Your Job Offers

Did you take the time to sell the company to the candidate during the interview, or were you only focused on what the candidate had to offer?

Times have changed. Roles haven’t necessarily flopped, but you now need to do just as much convincing as the candidate. If you’ve been a hiring manager for many years, we understand that this is quite an adjustment.

In today’s job market, candidates are finding any small reason to decline your offer while they wait for something better…because they can. With the unemployment rate at 4.5% across New York State, job seekers are starting to become more confident as they know they have the upper hand. As a hiring manager, you now really need to sell your company and be incredibly responsive throughout the entire interview process. If not, you will find your offers are getting declined, or the candidate has moved on before the job offer was even made.

Give the candidate reasons why working for the company is worth it. Before conducting interviews, make sure you have valid examples of why employees enjoy working at your company. Find other selling points, such as benefits that your company offers (health insurance, gym memberships, the ability to work from home sometimes, etc.). Get your bait ready to lure the candidate in because they are most likely wanted elsewhere, too.

Besides failing to sell your company to the candidate, here are some other reasons why candidates may reject your job offer:

  1. Bad First Impression
    Was the candidate greeted by the receptionist in a friendly manner? The impression of your company starts with your front desk and this vibe will set the tone for the interview. Shortly after that, the candidate is simply waiting on you, so don’t be late or act as though the interview is an inconvenience. During the interview, do your best to find a happy medium where you aren’t rushing through it, but you aren’t dragging it out too long. Both of these scenarios could be a turn off to the candidate, making them question if they would want to work at a company who did not value their time.
  2. Interview Process Takes Too Long
    For high level positions, it’s understandable that sometimes there needs to be multiple interviews. However, if possible, try to cut down the number of interviews in your process to avoid potentially losing the candidate to another company in the meantime. Schedule a group interview if possible. This will not only prevent the candidate from having to come back multiple times, but it will also show the interviewee how your staff members interact with each other, giving the candidate an idea if they would fit in.
  3. Bad Reviews
    If the candidate didn’t look to see what past employees said about you before the interview, chances are they will when an offer is on the table. Although out of your control, bad reviews will cause candidates to decline. All you can do is take the negative feedback seriously and work on addressing the issues, hoping to get more positive reviews in the future to counteract the criticism.
  4. Slow Response Time
    In a candidates’ market, you have to move quick. If you know you want to make an offer to a candidate, do it sooner rather than later. If a candidate doesn’t hear anything from your company within a week after the interview, they will assume that they didn’t get the position and could very likely have another job by the time you get around to proposing your offer.
  5. Low Salary
    If you are told the salary you are offering isn’t high enough on multiple occasions, you should do some extensive research to make sure you are offering a competitive salary. If a candidate has multiple offers, chances are they are going to go with the company that is offering them more pay and better benefits.

It’s a tough time right now for hiring managers in this candidates’ job market. If you’re tired of losing the best candidates when your company is looking to hire, let Key Resource Group share our recruiting expertise with you. We can help streamline the hiring process, so that next time you can get that rockstar candidate to accept your job offer.

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