Step 4 - How to make an offer and tie up the loose ends

You’ve seen them all and decided on the best candidate for the role and the company.  Now you need to make them a verbal offer giving them the nitty-gritty details – salary, benefits, start date etc. If they accept then send them a formal offer in writing, with all the necessary details, and a contract of employment.  When you have this signed and returned, you can let down the other applicants – the reason in delaying telling the others is in case your favourite turns you down - you don’t want to have to go back to someone having already said no, only to actually then say yes.  Some people do not like being second best…


Of course, if you’re using a recruitment agency, then they can handle the whole offer process for you which can be especially useful if you want to negotiate starting salaries and the like.  Likewise you may have an HR department who can handle this sort of thing for you.
 

So, there you go, the blueprint for successful recruiting!
 

Or so you might think….it may be the case that no matter whichever method you use for sourcing someone for you vacancy, no one suitable can be found, especially on specialist roles. The solution?  Well, money always talks so maybe you need to pay that bit more to attract the right individual – have a look at our salary surveys to see how what you’re offering stacks up against the industry as a whole.  Relocations packages could also be of use, as could the addition of more benefits.  If it’s a really specialist role though then maybe there just isn’t anyone out there looking at the moment…in which case you have three options:

• wait until there is
• use a head hunter
• take on an interim
   

Whatever method you choose, it’s certainly going to take time and effort, and probably, though not necessarily, money too.  However, if you do it wisely and treat it as an investment, it can be a major bonus for you and your company.  The alternative of course, which is far more cost effective, is to keep your good members of staff through motivation, development and opportunity – see our blog on staff retention and how to do it
 

Happy recruiting!