Why Candidates Aren’t Accepting Your Job Offers
Hiring Managers know that today’s job market isn’t stacked in companies’ favor. Low unemployment means that the market favors job seekers, who are free to be picky about choosing an offer that meets all their requirements.
In today’s job market, highly skilled candidates call the shots. And employers need to sell themselves to attract top talent. But if candidates aren’t accepting your company’s job offers, you shouldn’t just blame the job market.
Instead, you should evaluate your current recruiting process. Chances are, you can make small changes that have a big impact on your ability to hire and retain top candidates.
In our experience, there are three key reasons candidates are turning companies down.
- You Aren’t Moving Fast Enough
The first thing to evaluate is how quickly your company moves during the recruiting process.
A recent survey by Clutch, a ratings and reviews firm, found that more than half of recent hires spent two months or less searching for their current role. Once a candidate begins the application process, more than 40% receive a job offer in less than two weeks.
Candidates aren’t spending much time looking for a job, and companies are moving quickly to hire them.
If your company moves too slowly during the recruiting process, you risk losing candidates to companies that simply make an offer sooner.
To improve your hiring process, try limiting the number of interviews candidates must complete. Additionally, hiring managers should set aside time each week to schedule next steps, consult with internal decision-makers, and update candidates in their pipeline.
By aligning internal stakeholders and streamlining the recruitment process, you can beat your competition and keep pace with job seekers’ expectations.
- Your Offers Aren’t Competitive
Imagine you were offered two jobs. One offered great benefits, a high salary, and the flexibility to work remotely when needed. The other offered average benefits, an average salary, and little flexibility. Which would you choose?
If your job offers aren’t competitive with or slightly better than the norm for your industry, candidates will understandably find another opportunity.
To ensure that your job offers are competitive, you can conduct basic market research on Glassdoor or the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For a more in-depth understanding of the current market in your industry, you should hire a recruiter who has insight into what other companies are offering and how you should design an offer that works.
Finally, you can always ask candidates who turn down your offers for feedback. Honest conversations with candidates can help you shape a stronger strategy for the future.
- You Need Help Reaching the Right Candidates
In some cases, a company might do everything according to best practices and still struggle to connect with the right candidates.
In these cases, your future hire might not be actively seeking a new opportunity. Instead of posting a job opening and waiting for applications to roll in, you may need to hire a recruiting partner to identify and court candidates who might not be looking.
At Artemis, our consultants know how to diagnose problems in the recruiting process and send targeted outreach to candidates who are most likely to be interested in your company’s opportunities.
No matter what issues you run into while recruiting, we can help your company refine a process that works. Start by sending us an email or giving us a call, and we’ll look forward to helping you land the talent you need to take your business to the next level.
