When Your Job Offer Process Takes On a "Stalker" Quality....

Two main things to remember regarding your recruiting brand.  Don't expose your candidates to hiring managers that hurt your brand and move fast.  Nobody likes to be interviewed and then put on hold for 2-3 weeks.

Of course, moving too fast might be a bad thing as well.  Lisa from HR Thoughts and Ask a Manager hit the comments yesterday and asked the right question:

From Lisa - "From the queen of sssslllllloooooowwwww federal hiring processes, I throw a question out - do you think a hiring process can move too fast, in effect "scaring off" a candidate with its intensity?!"

From Ask A Manager - "I'd love to hear answers to Lisa's question too. I tend to move pretty quickly, but there have been times when I have consciously slowed myself down, because I didn't want a candidate to think we were overeager. The fact is, when I find the right person, I know it -- and I want to snatch them up ... but I do sometimes pull back a bit so they don't mistake that for desperation."

Moving fast is good.  ABC... Always... be.... closing...  But close too fast and you'll definitely give the candidate that easy to spot "stalker" vibe.  Closing is like the classic dating scenes in the movies.  Get the number, then wait a couple of days to ensure you don't look like a chump.  Call the same night, and the restraining order can't be far behind.

Of course, if you are marketing correctly during the process, the candidate won't mind if you call the next day, because they'll want the offer.  It really depends how good you are at selling.  Have a sloppy hiring manager in the mix, and the candidate might need at least 3 days to get over the lameness hangover.  2 days seems like a safe bet after a round of interviews to make the offer.  Make it sooner and you might miss, or it might cost you $$$ in a counter-offer process.  If you are thinking you need to wait a week, you probably aren't connecting in the process or selling hard enough.

Or you can be like Mikey from Swingers and call the candidate before they even get home.  Watch and wince.....

 

Comments

[Ask a Manager]

I love that scene from "Swingers." I cringe for him every time.

This is good advice. I usually make myself wait a couple of days, so I think we're on the same page. But sometimes when I deliberately make myself wait even though my decision is already made I know all I'm doing is game-playing, and I always wonder if I'm being silly. But the dating analogy is an apt one (I actually just blogged about the similarities betweed dating interviewing so I shouldn't be surprised to hear that!)