How to Make the Most Attractive Job Offer

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When working with today’s job seekers, you have to act fast and with certainty. Today’s job seekers are used to having the upper hand in the relationship, thanks to the candidate-driven market that we’re currently experiencing. A candidate-driven market is when there are more jobs available than there are qualified candidates, which means that job applicants have a lot of freedom and tons of options.

Top tier talent knows that they have their pick. Although the same candidate may have been willing to take any paying gig that came along about a decade ago, today’s low unemployment rate means there are fewer candidates competing for positions.

That’s why job seekers who are already employed can wait for the perfect next job to come along, rather than jumping at the next chance to move up the ladder. And it’s why recent graduates or people re-entering the field can look for their dream job rather than settling.

Quick Tips for Recruiters

All of this presents a unique challenge to recruiters and hiring managers, but the good news is that this is definity something that can be overcome. We offer three general pieces of advice for those who are doing the hiring, and those are:

1. Move fast
2. Create a work culture where people are excited about their jobs
3. Make sure your make a compelling, effective job offer

You can read our other blog posts about the importance of working fast and how to create that work culture, but let’s talk now about job offers. How can you ensure that your job offer stands out when your ideal candidate might have multiple offers? What makes an attractive job offer?

Creating a Job Offer that Stands Out

There are several key components to crafting a job offer that gets you the end result you are looking for, which is an affirmative response from the person you’ve offered the job to. One of the first things you need to do, though, is decide if you are going to make the offer in writing or verbally.

A written job offer is a formal letter that includes all the aspects of the position, including salary, benefits, job description, relevant hiring policies, and reporting structure. A verbal job offer, on the other hand, is typically made over the phone, although it is sometimes made in person, especially by companies that have streamlined their interview processes so well that they know going into the interview exactly what will trigger the job to be offered and what will put the offer on hold.

Written Job Offer 101

Our focus is on written job offers, although we are always happy to work with hiring managers who like to do things in person, too. For written job offers, we recommend the following:

1. Make the offer soon after the interview process is complete. A candidate-driven market means that top talent likely has multiple offers to consider, and waiting to get your offer in front of that person can easily mean that you lose the chance to employ your first choice.
2. Be as detailed as possible in your offer. Candidates expect this document to answer numerous questions, including: their title, job description, reporting structure, first date of employment, salary, benefits information, and instructions for accepting the offer. Leaving off these details can be detrimental to the process.
3. Make a competitive salary offer from the very beginning. You don’t want to scare off a potential employee by offering them a salary that is significantly lower than what others are going to be offering them. If there are multiple employers in your area or industry that have similarly appealing work cultures, the pay may be the one thing that sets you apart. A conservative estimate is to offer them 10% more than their previous salary, but you may want to go a little bit higher than that if you want to increase your chances.

These three pieces of advice may seem simple, but implementing all three of them can take time and intentionality. If you’re worried about accomplishing all of these, or if you want to know about how to take it to the next level after you’ve accomplished these steps, consider contacting us so that we can share our expertise with you.

At SelectOne, we have been working with hiring managers to bring their practices in line with today’s candidate-driven market, and we would be happy to talk with you about how your company can stop losing candidates to competitors.

You can also download our special, free e-book about how to attract top tier talent in the current candidate-driven economy!