Convince Candidates – 10 Ways to Have Them Accept Your Job Offer

It’s said that honesty is the best policy, and the hiring process is no exception when you want to convince candidates. Interviewees often have a lot of balls in the air. After all, if they’re interviewing with you, you can count on them meeting other hiring managers as well. That’s why clear, honest communication toward candidates is key in this process. 

By telling the candidate exactly what they can expect from you and what you expect from them, you’ll show them that you can be a stable factor in their life. Chances are that they’ll show their gratitude by signing your contract!

However, do remember that potential employees have a great B.S. detector. So, be prepared to answer tough questions and refrain from false promises or exaggerations. For instance, don’t talk up career opportunities within the company, if you can’t show for it with the number of current employees who’ve actually gone through those motions.

On average, people spend the majority of their time at work, so it’s important to let your candidate in on the work culture, hours and other ‘softer’ benefits that come with the position. As such, don’t just tell them about the content of their job – but help them visualize their potential life as an employee at your company.

You should use the knowledge you’ve gained about this candidate during the hiring process to assess how this position fits in their lifestyle. Explain how the position aligns with your candidate’s personal goals, and boast about the benefits that make you stand out against competitors. But do remember that to convince candidates it’s not just about the money! Flexible working hours, a location close to home, or an in-company daycare could all be reasons for a candidate to accept your offer over others. 

Finally, the quickest way for convinces candidates is to show them what the workplace is like – in a personalized welcome video from all their future colleagues! To save time and money, use a video editing app like Videotape, which allows you to create a personalized and unique video in the blink of an eye.

Contrary to other video-editing apps, Videotape is collaborative in nature. This means that each person can record and submit an individual message, with the push of a button. No paywall, just a link which can be shared on any messaging platform. 

Streamlining the hiring process is an ideal way to make a candidate feel more at ease with you. For this reason, you should make sure the process of interviews and negotiations doesn’t drag on. Not only will candidates eventually lose interest or be scooped up by someone else, they likely won’t even let you know if they do decline the offer.

Keep in mind that remaining professional is a vital element of streamlining the hiring process. Don’t show up late to an interview, and don’t expect candidates to respond to late-night text messages. This might come off as a red flag and indicate that punctuality and a healthy work-life balance are no priority in your workplace.

An interview is a two-way conversation, so candidates are curious about the values your workplace represents and the pace at which it’s growing. This goes beyond your own experience; your public image matters. Therefore, don’t shy away from outside perspectives on your business during an interview – even if they might not always be as positive as you’d like. It’s bound to come up anyway. So, why not just be honest?

Though, if that isn’t enough, remember that actions speak louder than words. Show candidates you practice what you preach. Many companies claim to prioritize diversity in their workforce, but how many actually engage with that term’s meaning? Try connecting a candidate with a current employee, or ask a department to share their perspectives by making a snappy collaborative video using Videotape. 

This allows an interviewee to be emerged by your employer brand – rather than be forced to just take your word for it. 

A well-thought-out hiring process allows you to get to know the candidate on a deeper level. You might learn something about their family or the way they imagine their lives in 20 years. These aspects can influence their final decision about the job. 

Such information also makes it a lot easier to get ahead of a candidate’s reservations. Is the interviewee anxious about the long commute? Tell them there’s an option to work remotely a number of days per week. Do they have long-term ambitions? Show them all the ways they could grow and develop themselves within your organization. And the best part? Knowing your candidate builds trust. It helps you move from being a dime in a dozen – to being one in a million.

Any candidate likes being pampered by potential employers. After all, being shown your worth works wonders for your ego. But, beware of coming off too eager! You are striving to convince candidates, but you don’t want them to feel cornered.

By all means, make sure that your candidate feels wanted and welcome at the office, but don’t put them on a pedestal either. Indicating to a potential employee that they will be the ‘company’s superstar’ simultaneously blocks their potential to learn from others. All in all, it can turn out to be counter-productive.

Once you’ve selected the best person for the job, your final task is to convince candidates to accept the offer. A job offer email can make or break that decision. 

When to send a job offer email

A job offer email should be the conclusion to the hiring process, so it should contain a summary of everything you’ve discussed so far. Ensure that all parties involved agree with legally binding details, such as the terms of employment or the company’s expectations. 

A golden rule to convince candidates is to always extend the offer verbally before sending the email. This way, you won’t accidentally get stuck in a second wave of negotiations, leaving both you and your candidate exhausted instead of excited. 

How to send a job offer email

There’s a couple of considerations to be made when sending a job offer email. First, you should decide between sending the offer letter as either an email attachment or in the body of an email.

Sending a PDF version of your employment offer letter as an email attachment is a professional way of going about it. It’s also convenient for your candidate; a separate document is easier to file away and return to if necessary. 

However, make sure that you do include a brief personalized message in the email body. After all, you’ve had multiple conversations with this candidate – distancing yourself might come out of nowhere. Therefore, pick a particular tone of voice that matches your applicant’s personality.

You could also send your offer letter in the body of the email. This way, the candidate will see the complete offer letter immediately after opening the email instead of having to download an attachment. 

Though, do remember that legally binding details are still crucial to discuss and include, even if the hiring process was laid-back and somewhat informal. 

What should be included in a job offer

As discussed, a job offer email should contain a summary of all the relevant information you and the candidate have discussed. Examples are:

• Job details
• Contingencies, if applicable
• Compensation
• Benefits
• Deadline for accepting/declining the offer
• Your contact details

Extra tips for convincing candidates

As a bonus, you can attach relevant documents and resources to help the candidate make an informed decision. But don’t overdo it: you’re aiming for information, not overkill. 

Such attachments can range from the company’s annual report to a personalized message from the candidate’s potential new colleagues using Videotape. Anything goes, as long as you’re confident that these extras fit with your applicant’s personality.

It seems to go without saying, but you’d be surprised to know how many companies have a complete stranger present the final offer to their candidate. Even if it’s the CEO of the company, don’t make this mistake! 

After a grueling process of interviews, trials and negotiations, candidates are looking for a sense of closure. Being dropped into someone else’s lap can come across as rushed and impersonal, which is exactly what you’ve been trying to avoid during the hiring process!

It can be the one thing tipping the scales and causing your candidate to go in another direction, which would be a waste of time and resources.

To prevent the hiring process from dragging on, setting a deadline for acceptance is a perfect way to create a sense of urgency. Without a deadline, a candidate has more time to shop around for a better offer, which increases the chance that they will sign with someone else.

It also lets both the recruiter and the interviewee know what to expect. Moreover, the candidate will realize that the position is vital for the organization’s performance and that their efforts are thus guaranteed to make an impact.

After all these efforts to make the hiring process go as smoothly as possible, you should be able to expect a certain level of decency in return. But what if your dream candidate still dodges your calls after all these considerations? Then, it might not be a match after all.

Sure, as a team leader or hiring manager, you want to go above and beyond for top candidates. But since you’ve spent time and resources on recruiting this particular person, you should know when to draw a line – and just let go.

Don’t be disappointed, though, if your best interviewee slips through the cracks. They might’ve been the best, but they surely weren’t the only good one. And besides, if a candidate ends an intensive hiring process with a disappointing answer, there’s a chance were better off without them anyway.

Just like it’s important to treat pre-boarding new hires like a sport, convincing candidates to accept a job offer is arguably more difficult without a clear strategy.

The 10 ways we’ve discussed above can help you create such a strategy. But never forget that your candidate should be at the heart of it. If your plan doesn’t seem to work out for a particular applicant, don’t be afraid to shape it to match them and their needs.