Over the years our clients have learned to trust us when we insist on making offers to candidates. There is an art form to extending an offer, especially when a 3rd party recruiter has spearheaded the process. We follow a few guidelines consistently, basically in this order:

1) Congratulate the candidate on simply having received an offer, and deliver the news in an excited manner.
2) Start by confirming the details of the offer which have been outlined beforehand – which brands will be assigned, official title, projected start date, etc.
3) If the salary is off, address it after outlining all the positives.
4) Look for opportunities to make up salary variances in vacation time, sign-on bonuses, and elevated titles.
5) After all details have been confirmed and questions answered, a 24 hour turnaround time is required – period.
6) Number 5 has led us recently to a new policy of not extending offers on Fridays. The extra time over the weekend leads to unnecessary complications as friends, relatives, and neighbors weigh in on the details and give what amounts to bad advice.

There are whole sets of guidelines we follow throughout the interview process leading to a smooth acceptance of an employment offer; but I can’t give away all our secrets, can I?