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HR Party of One is brought to you by BerniePortal.

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Let’s say you’re recruiting for an open sales role at your company.

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You’ve been trying to fill the role for months, and it seems like the end is finally

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here.

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This one candidate has exceeded all other interviewees with flying colors.

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She crushed every interview and would be a remarkable ADD to your company.

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The hiring manager shared with you today that she is going to offer her the job.

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During this job offer, the hiring manager says,

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“Hi Amy!

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I’m so excited to let you know that I’m offering you the role as our new sales representative!

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We met with a series of candidates and agreed that you’re the best addition to the team,

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should you accept this offer.

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So—are you ready to join our team?”

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Hmm…what’s wrong with this job offer?

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Do you know?

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Well, today, I’m going to go over the right ways to extend an offer, and then I’ll share

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with you why this hiring manager made some mistakes.

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We’ll go over the right ways to extend a job offer, such as:

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When You Should Make the Offer, How to Extend a Job Offer,

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Why You Should Use This Method, and the Proper Platform for Making a Job Offer.

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Let’s get started!

When You Should Make the Offer

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When You Should Make the Offer.

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Ok—so you’ve found the perfect candidate.

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But, when exactly do you make the offer?

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Well, the short answer is, “when you know they’ll say yes”.

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So, what do I mean by that?

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It’s important to know the candidate’s commitment to the role before you extend the

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offer.

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Are they all-in with your company?

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Are they still applying to other jobs?

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Would they accept an offer if you were to give one?

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So let’s focus on that last question.

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It’s an important one.

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While you’re interviewing candidates, you should naturally start to gain clarity on

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how interested a candidate is in the role.

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After each interview, you should always ask if they have any questions.

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Because there will likely be a number of leaders involved in the interview process for each

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candidate, all notes and comments about each applicant can be saved right within an applicant

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tracking feature, like we have in BerniePortal.

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That way, it’s easy for every hiring manager to view these notes and have clarity around

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what has been discussed already and what still needs to be assessed.

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If the candidate has been asking questions and really investing their time in understanding

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the role and the company, and continues agreeing to additional interviews, it can appear that

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there is a significant level of interest in the role, and it may seem likely that they

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would accept a job offer, if presented with one.

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However, you can’t be positive.

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Therefore, I’m going to walk you through how you find out their answer before you actually

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make the offer.

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How to Extend a Job Offer.

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So—how can you be 100% sure that a candidate will say, “yes”?

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Well, when you’ve decided that a candidate would be a great add to your organization

How to Extend a Job Offer

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and would like to offer them the job, the first thing you should do is review the terms

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for the role.

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Discuss the responsibilities, compensation, benefits, PTO, and all other important factors

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that would affect a candidate’s decision.

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Confirm that everything matches with the candidate’s understanding of the role.

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If the candidate does indeed agree that it all aligns with their expectation and understanding

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of the role, you would then ask, “If things were to move forward, what day would you be

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available to start?”

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If the candidate responds saying that they would be able to start 2 weeks after being

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offered the position, you would then include that in your next question, which would go

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as follows,

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“Ok, great.

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Well, we discussed that your compensation for this role will be “X”.

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We went over your benefits and PTO as well as all your responsibilities.

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If I were to offer you the job right now, would you say yes!?

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Would you be completely ready and excited to start in 2 weeks?”

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Phrasing the question this way will put the candidate in the position to either share

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their excitement and willingness to join the company right now, or it may stir up a few

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questions.

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Perhaps, the candidate is excited for the role, but wants to touch base with their spouse

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first.

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Or, perhaps they share that they’re still interviewing for other positions and would

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like to ensure they are making the best decision for themself and their family, so that they

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would need time to weigh their options.

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In either case, you know these are perfectly acceptable reasons, and that the candidate

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still may very well choose to work at your company.

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Therefore, you can respond accordingly,

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“I completely understand.

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Well, I am still interviewing other candidates as well, so I want to stay in touch.

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How about we plan to touch base with each other on [mention a date that makes sense,

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based on the reasoning they provided].

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Now, you’re tabling the offer for a separate conversation.

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During that conversation, you’d simply inquire how they are feeling about this role in comparison

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to others, how the conversation went with their spouse, etc.

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Whatever they needed time to figure out, you would just bring it up during your next meeting

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and see where their head is at.

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OR, perhaps, the candidate is fully on board and ready to start on Monday.

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In THAT scenario, when the candidate says they’d excitedly say yes, you can follow

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up with,

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“Well great!!

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Because, that’s exactly what I’m doing right now.

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We are so excited to have you join our team, and cannot wait for you to start on ‘X’!”

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You notice how you didn’t even really offer the job?

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They said they would say yes, and you share that you’re excited to have them on board.

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When the conversation happens this way and you get complete buy-in from the candidate,

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an actual “offer” never really needs to be made in the way most people think about

Why You Should Use This Method

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it.

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So now that you understand how to make a job offer, let’s discuss why you should do it

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this way.

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Why Use This Method?

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You may be wondering why you should ensure a candidate is going to accept a job before

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you offer it.

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Well, there are a couple reasons:

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First.

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Leverage shifts after an offer is made.

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If you decide to make an offer to a candidate before knowing how they’d respond, you’re

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putting the power in their hands.

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The candidate will now know that they are your top choice, and you therefore may be

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willing to make accommodations in order to have them work on your team.

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This is normally when that top candidate will begin to negotiate their salary, benefits,

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or other aspects of their contract before agreeing to work at the organization.

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As you saw earlier, if you phrase the question beforehand, including their salary and benefits,

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then they will have already agreed to those details before you welcome them to your company.

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Without getting full acceptance of each detail, you’re putting leverage on their shoulders.

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Also, It Avoids awkwardness due to other potential interviews lined up.

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Despite how interested a candidate may seem, they still can be interviewing at other companies.

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If you offer them the job without that awareness, it can create some awkwardness afterwards.

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For instance, they may response with something like,

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“I’m definitely interested in the role, but I do have a couple more interviews this

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week and next.

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I owe it to myself to see them all through, so I’m happy to get back to you in a couple

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weeks.”

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Now, you’ve given them leverage AND you’re stuck waiting for them to continue their interview

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process, which can last longer than a couple weeks.

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You don’t know what round of interviews they’re on, and there’s a chance an interview

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can get postponed.

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You may not get an answer for another month.

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In that scenario, it’s awkward to revoke your offer, and it puts you in a very difficult

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situation.

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What if a month down the line, they accept a different job, and now you need to start

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all over?

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It’s much easier to know the answer, FIRST, because then you can continue the interview

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process on your end while they continue theirs.

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That way, your options also remain open.

Proper Platform for Making a Job Offer

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The Proper Platform for Making a Job Offer.

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When making a job offer to a candidate, the conversation should be had either in person,

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on the phone, or through a video meeting.

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A job offer should not be presented via email.

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Let’s discuss why.

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Offering a job through email opens up a platform for negotiation.

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If a candidate gets a job offer through email, negotiating comes easily.

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They can take their time, talk to some family members, and also develop a layer of confidence

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that can come from typing behind a screen, rather than talking face to face or over the

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phone, where a quick response is required.

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Rather than having the discussion in person and giving all the details of the job (salary,

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benefits, hours, etc.), an email offer would list these details, providing a messy platform

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for negotiation.

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Offering a job in person or over the phone allows for a conversation to occur prior to

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the offer being officially made.

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Offering a job through email does not allow for that open communication to occur first.

Final Thoughts

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So now that you learned all about the right way to extend a job offer, let’s go back

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to the hiring manager at the beginning of the episode who offered Amy the job.

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Can you now see why that job offer is messy?

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Amy now has leverage.

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She may feel that she can negotiate her salary and/or benefits since she is clearly the chosen

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candidate for the role.

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Or, she may still be interviewing elsewhere, and now the hiring manager will be stuck waiting,

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without any guarantee that Amy will accept the role.

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You definitely don’t want any of your hiring managers or yourself to be stuck in those

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scenarios.

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If you follow this method, you’ll never have to be!

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In this episode, we’ve discussed the right way to extend a job offer.

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To recap: a job offer should be made when you know the candidate will say, “yes!”

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You should have a conversation, in person, on the phone, or via video call, and the conversation

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will give you their answer, before you actually offer them the role.

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Additionally, we talked about why the offer should be made this way, as to avoid giving

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the candidate leverage over you and avoiding sticky situations.

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Get their buy-in first, and you’re certain to recruit top candidates.

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Remember—your role is as strategic as you make it!