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Updated August 24, 2022You’re reading an excerpt of The Holloway Guide to Technical Recruiting and Hiring, a book by Osman (Ozzie) Osman and over 45 other contributors. It is the most authoritative resource on growing software engineering teams effectively, written by and for hiring managers, recruiters, interviewers, and candidates. Purchase the book to support the author and the ad-free Holloway reading experience. You get instant digital access, over 800 links and references, commentary and future updates, and a high-quality PDF download.
You don’t have to feel powerless after you’ve made an offer as you’re waiting for a response. In addition to maintaining contact with the candidate, there are several things the company can do while the candidate is deciding.
Once a candidate is close to the finish line, you need to pull in all the resources you can. You should by now have an understanding of what might be holding the candidate back from making a decision. What questions remain unanswered for them? What doubts do they have? Facilitate discussions with your team, if a candidate:
Has questions about the role. Have them talk to peers in similar roles.
Is curious about culture. While we’ve discussed the dangers of “culture fit” from the company perspective, it’s more than likely that a candidate will want to feel like they will be empowered and accepted at a company. If they’re uncertain or just curious about the culture at a company, can they spend more time with the team? Maybe join a team lunch, dinner, or even a meeting?
Is worried about other practical considerations. If they have concerns around the commute, moving, finding daycare, et cetera, offer to help think things through. Connect them with other teammates who have been through a similar experience. For instance, if they are concerned about a move, connect them with a teammate who recently made that move; if they’re worried about finding and affording daycare or schools in a new location or working childcare into the demands of the position, connect with someone who can offer help—note that at a larger company, this person might be in human resources.
Is unsure about the company’s prospects. Have them talk to someone on the business side, or, for startups, the founder or one of the investors. This has the simultaneous effect of showing them that you value them enough to pull in busy, senior people.
Is worried about compensation. Help them work through the math. This can be especially useful for candidates who are relocating to an area with different costs of living. They might be worried about expenses, but once they break down the numbers, they might realize that things are not as scary as they seem. Alternatively, your candidate might be teaching you something about the practicality of your offer. Listen closely to their concerns, and you might revisit the offer. If their concern is around equity, help explain the equity part of their offer to them, and send them a link to our free Guide to Equity Compensation.
Of course, this all takes a tremendous amount of effort from you and your team, and it should. No matter what you do, you will sometimes lose candidates and it might feel like that time was wasted. But if a candidate joins the team without getting all their questions answered, they can end up leaving quickly, which is an even bigger risk than having people drop out of the process later. If a candidate is genuinely qualified and seriously excited about your company but needs some assurances or guidance, you should pull out all the stops.
A candidate may be fielding offers from other companies.
danger One way some companies make their offer appear more attractive is undermining a candidate’s competing offers (or current job). Bad-mouthing other opportunities might work with some candidates, but usually comes across as petty, or worse. It’s better to ask a candidate questions that get them thinking than to directly undermine a competitor. When possible, repeat back to them things they had mentioned in the past. For instance, if you’re a startup going up against a larger company, you can ask them something like: “When we talked earlier in the process, you had mentioned that you care most about learning opportunities and personal impact. How does that factor into your current decision-making?” In addition to sounding a lot more authentic and a lot less rude than direct attempts to influence their thinking, you may discover pieces of their decision-making that you didn’t know about before.
story “Once, I was trying to hire a new grad for a startup, but the candidate was leaning toward joining Microsoft because the offer had higher cash compensation. Upon digging into the candidate’s situation, it became clear that his heart was really with the startup. But, he was about to graduate, wanted to fly his father from Europe to attend his graduation, and didn’t have the cash to afford it. We offered to cover the cost of his father’s trip, and the candidate signed.” —Zack Isaacson, Partner, Sweat Equity Ventures
startup Trying to compete with big, established companies as a startup is challenging for a number of reasons, especially when it comes to compensation packages. TripleByte offers a few suggestions for unique aspects that startups can offer, which may come in handy if you’re trying to close with a candidate who is interviewing or currently works at Google-scale companies.
Once your offer has been made, even after the candidate has verbally accepted it, you can expect further competition from their existing employer or other companies, who will scramble, sometimes desperately, to counteroffer—that is, to give them an even better offer now that they know the candidate has options.
important To guard against a counteroffer from their existing employer, it’s important that you strengthen your candidate’s resolve before they accept your offer by preparing them for the counteroffer. Explain that most employees who stay at a company because of a counteroffer end up leaving in a few months anyway; the underlying issues rarely disappear. Do they really want to be at a company that only gives them what they want when they’re on the brink of leaving?
Similar advice applies for counteroffers from other prospective employers. Remind them why they chose your company, and explain that if a company only reveals a really good offer after they’ve lost a candidate, that probably speaks to their overall culture and attitude and how much they value the candidate.
candidateOnce you decide to accept an offer, be sure to respond quickly and in writing. The Balance Careers provides detail on what to include and a few sample templates.
Having a candidate accept an offer should be a cause for celebration, both for you and for the candidate. For you and your team, it’s a culmination of countless hours expended on finding, evaluating, and convincing a candidate to join you. It’s worth taking a moment to celebrate and reflect. Many managers send team-wide celebratory emails announcing an offer acceptance.
caution However, it’s a common mistake to assume that once a candidate has accepted an offer verbally or by signing a document, your work is done. In reality, the period after accepting can be critical. A lot of candidates can experience acceptance remorse.
Acceptance remorse is a sense of regret that candidates may experience after agreeing to join a company. For some candidates who experience acceptance remorse, it may not set in until they actually start working.* For others, it can start as soon as they’ve said yes.*
Not all candidates will experience acceptance remorse, of course, and you have some control over whether it happens. Unnecessarily rushing a candidate into responding to an offer is a good way to have them feel some amount of regret or trepidation, as is refusing to be transparent about things like compensation. From this point on, the best way you can help the candidate avoid acceptance remorse is by expressing your excitement, answering questions, and keeping up momentum—but in a chill way.
First, find a way to celebrate their acceptance. Your immediate reaction to them accepting your offer should be really positive. Some companies encourage a candidate who has verbally accepted an offer to come in and sign the offer letter in person, in the presence of (the obviously ecstatic) team. You can have teammates reach out to them and express their excitement about them joining. It can also be fun to invite them to a team lunch, dinner, or activity.
Maintain regular contact until they start their new job. Don’t drop off the face of the planet between the offer acceptance and start date.
Make sure to put the new employee in touch with someone at HR (or whomever handles paperwork and logistical questions). Especially if there is a relocation involved, help your new employee with these challenges by introducing them to the people they need to talk to, without them having to ask.
Give them updates about the team. Tell them about the exciting upcoming challenges and projects your team is facing, why you believe that they are going to be able to help the team meet those challenges, and the work they will be ramping up on when they start. Make it as real and visceral as possible.
Keep some balance, of course, since they want a chance to unwind in between jobs, and you don’t want to overwhelm them or stress them out. But some people may be so excited that they ask you for advice on how to prepare. Do you have books you and the team all love that you can recommend, or perhaps internal manuals to help them ramp up? Both fun and practical options can work here. Having something in mind to offer them can help the new employee feel engaged with the company even before their first official day, while still getting to relax before it all begins.