Negotiating an Offer and Securing the HirePosted almost 6 years ago by Nick Boulton

With an ever-expanding technology market which is becoming more competitive by the day, having a clear strategy for negotiating an offer with your candidate is crucial to ensure you secure the hire and talent you need to push your teams forward. The number of candidates taking counter-offers from their current employers is at a record high, so it’s important to create a clear process for getting them on board, but where do you start?

"Do I want to work at this company?"

The first thing to establish before making any offer is if the candidate really wants to work for you. Unless the answer is unequivocally yes, then hold back on throwing an offer their way. With so many options available to the best talent out there, the chances of buying their services are slim and possibly fruitless. If they have the skills you need, you might want to put in a bit more effort in selling your company to them as a place to work and develop.

Between the candidate, your hiring managers and any recruitment consultancies you may be working with, it’s crucial to have open and clear lines of communications so the offer is positioned correctly and given to the candidate at the right time.

How to structure a job offer

When offering a position to a candidate, either from yourself or through a recruitment consultant on your behalf, present the terms as a package! A bad structure would be starting with the salary, then dropping in a few benefits as an afterthought. Mention what the package is worth as a whole , then break it down! Example; offering a package worth £68k, broken down as £58k base, £7.5k bonus, 2% pension (worth £1160) and medical aid for you and your family worth £1340. This is important as it not only cements your offer in the mind of the candidate, but strengthens your position as an employer who knows the value in their team members.

Discussing salary expectations

This open communication is key to both sides understanding each other’s motivations and needs. You should definitely ask the candidate about salary expectations in the interview stage but don’t push the issue if they don’t seem keen to talk about money; some people aren’t comfortable discussing it and this may put them off the role. Those candidates who are more open to salary discussions and negotiations may give you a desired range, but this is usually a case of a candidate not wanting to look greedy and in turn make a bad impression to you as a potential employer. Don’t be surprised if they mention one figure to you and another to the recruitment consultant. This happens more often than not, so consistent communication is important to mitigate its effects.

If you’re looking for more advice on developing your recruitment process, check in with regularly with our blog , follow us on LinkedIn , Twitter and Facebook or give us a call on 020 7090 2500 .

Nick Boulton
Phone: 020 7090 2530
Email: nboulton@client-server.com