One of the greatest joys of our job as a recruiter is finding the perfect candidate for a role– making both client and candidate extremely happy. However, candidates often times make a serious mistake after the client has made a formal offer. Instead of accepting in the standard day or two (in some cases the client requests a twenty four hour decision if it is a very urgent role), the candidate will sit on the offer for a week or even more- sometimes being very evasive or even ignoring emails when asked the status of their decision. There could be several reasons for this– 1) the candidate is interviewing at other companies and wants to see how alternate scenarios play out; 2) the candidate is not one hundred percent sure they want the job or 3) the candidate is inherently a slow decision maker.
Regardless of the reason, dragging out the process in this way can truly jeopardize the offer as the client begins to wonder why there isn’t a natural “I accept” and doubt ensues. Sometimes this can result in the offer being revoked. A company wants to hire someone who REALLY wants the job.
Lesson: do not drag out the acceptance of an offer. Take one or two days to mull it over and make your decision as you want to start off on a positive note should you decide to accept AND there are always other people who would genuinely want the job in your place.
Jodi Shapiro – Senior Consultant