Does this story sound familiar?

You identified that your business has a recruitment need – this means you’re probably already short staffed.

You spend two hours sharpening up a position description.

You pay for an Ad and spend an hour highlighting why your business is THE best place.

You spend a few hours screening through applications, speaking to candidates and make a short list of 3-4 suitable candidates.

You interview these candidates twice and identify your next superstar.

You create an offer, send through the contract, and start planning for them to come on board.

You have dedicated around 20+ hours of your precious time to this process, and that’s before you consider the investment of your emotional energy.

…only to have your offer rejected.

Now you’re back at square one.

If this is an all too familiar story, it can be a very disheartening process as you are constantly investing your time and effort, and you’re still coming in second or worse still, you’re having to settle for second best.

Maybe you start to think that despite all your efforts, you won’t find anyone to fill this role, or that no one wants to work for your company.

Before you start to panic, you should consider if you are making any of the following “fatal” recruitment errors that regularly lead to a rejected offer;

1. You waited too long

They say time kills deals and in this instance, this rings true. Delays in relaying feedback, finalising offers, and contracts that never arrive are some the biggest and most effective deal breakers. In this market, a good candidate has at least a couple of other prospects. If you wait too long to communicate your intentions or get a formal offer out, you are greatly decreasing your chances of securing your chosen candidate. Make sure you are prepared; know what you are looking for and ensure that you have hiring approvals. A stop-start process is the most effective way to kill a candidate’s confidence in your company.

2. Your offer wasn’t competitive

If time kills deals, then under bidding buries deals alive. Nothing is more of a turn-off than being offered well below what you deserve. Providing that candidates are asking for salaries that are around the market standard, there is little reason to offer considerably lower salaries. If you’re unsure what you should be paying, a little bit of research and a chat with your friendly neighbourhood recruitment consultant will ensure you enter the hiring process equipped to offer a fair and competitive salary package.

3. You didn’t make the candidate feel special

Don’t underestimate the power of rolling out the red carpet to a candidate through the interview and offer stage. Simple gestures such as an introduction to some key team members, a quick tour around the office and a follow-up email, are all things that will help a candidate feel connected to your organisation. Get your candidates excited by telling them about the projects that they will be working on, and talk about them as though they are already an integral part of the team.

4. You ignored the unchangeable

By ignoring facts that can’t be changed like the company’s location, the types of projects and the size of the company, you can effectively sabotage your chances of securing your star candidate. In the most recent edition of the PACE Survey, our clients reported that 33% of the resignations they had in 2016 was due to Location, Projects and Size of Company; all elements that you are unlikely to be able to affect. By asking the right questions to understand a candidate’s motivations, circumstances and aspirations, you can effectively increase your chances of securing the most suitable candidate for your business and potentially save yourself a lot of heartache down the line.

Ask any Manager or Business Owner what their greatest asset is, and they’ll undoubtedly tell you, it’s their people. Why wouldn’t you pull out all the stops to secure your top candidate?

By ensuring that you are prepared to hire, and invest in the candidate, as well as being conscious to the sometimes-subconscious impressions that you are giving, you will dramatically increase your chances of successfully securing your chosen candidate.