These are the main reasons why most candidates turn down a job offer –
1. Experience during the interview process
The interview process is a little taste of the company’s culture and its way of doing business. According to CareerPlug, 48% of candidates have received a negative recruitment experience in the last 12 months, and 49% of candidates have turned down job offers due to a bad experience.
2. Long recruitment processes
Recruitment processes should be short. Three to four interviews should be enough, depending on the role and seniority required. The longer the process, the less enthusiasm we will convey to the candidate.
We should not forget the competitiveness in the sales job market, where all companies are on the hunt for the best talent. We can’t afford to lengthen the process and lose the opportunity to extend an offer because another company was faster to do so.
3. No follow-up
We need to create agile processes and we can’t ghost candidates. If it was the candidate who ghosted us during days, would we want to have them on our team? Probably not. It is a two-way street and it applies to the whole process, not just the final stage.
4. Lack of transparency
In the same way that a company interviews a candidate and assesses their fit with the role and company, the candidate will also assess the company.
No matter how well we present our company and team, if something doesn’t add up, the candidate will end up withdrawing their candidacy.
Also, the more transparent we are about role expectations, the better the candidate can assess if this is the right opportunity for them. These are relevant issues that we should discuss throughout the process, preferably at the beginning.
5. Employment conditions
Related to the previous point, if the offer isn’t aligned with the candidate’s expectations, the candidate will turn down the offer. In fact, according to Infojobs, 8 out of 10 candidates reject an offer for salary issues, which proves to be one of the main candidates’ concerns when job hunting.
It is also important that the offer reflects what has been discussed in previous conversations. For example, if we promise a certain balance of WFH vs in the office, we must not alter the agreement or omit it in the offer.
6. Lack of engagement
The candidate must do their homework and learn about the company. TRUE. But it is also the responsibility of the hiring team to make the candidate ‘fall in love’ with the company.
No one knows the team better than us. In sales, no one knows the product better than the sales manager (if they are the ones hiring). Everyone involved in the selection process has the responsibility of selling the job opportunity.
We must bear in mind that the way in which we develop our recruitment process says a lot about how we run our business. We must create effective recruitment processes that reflect the company’s culture and way of doing things. We must be agile and overcome the uncertainty that tends to lengthen processes unnecessarily.
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