Is your company recruiting candidates from outside Northeast Ohio? Have you recently offered a position to someone not from our region?
These recruits are considering not only the job descriptions and your offers but also the impact it will have on their quality of life, finances and overall happiness…not to mention the impact a relocation will have on their families.
How much time should your company give these recruits to make a final decision? Our corporate clients often ask us
this question. You obviously want to give candidates enough time to make a sound decision; but, at the same time, too much time can leave room for second guesses.
First things first…the right experience and impression are far more beneficial in ensuring a ‘yes’ from your first choice candidate than any deadline placed on a great offer. Make sure you are giving the recruit enough information during the hiring process – this includes information both about the job itself and our region.
Your new recruit and their family should definitely be invited to tour Northeast Ohio. It is important that the whole family feels educated and connected to their potential new community so that they are well-positioned to make a decision. In order to secure an accepted offer on a reasonable timeline, they must see that they can easily make Northeast Ohio home – that their hobbies, interests, educational needs, backgrounds and religions can all be accommodated here. It will also help them to know that they aren’t on their own when they move here. If you provide them with helpful resources for settling into their new community, they will see relocation as a secure and exciting choice and not a scary, turn-your-life-upside down scenario. In short, they’ll be more likely to make the move. This is the piece of the puzzle that Executive Arrangements fills.
Now that your company has created the right experience, provided important information and given a great job offer, how long do you give the candidate to respond? For a job offer that doesn’t require relocation, a full calendar week is a common and generous timeline for a response. However, a little bit more time is most likely necessary when a recruit and their family are contemplating leaving an established home. It is recommended that you give them two weeks to make a final decision.
For some candidates, one week is just not quite enough time for such a life-altering decision. A short amount of time to make a big decision can be intimidating and lead to a rejected offer. More than two weeks can leave a recruit and their family with too much time on their hands. They can begin to talk themselves out of an exciting opportunity because they begin to envision difficult logistics. Staying put begins to feel much easier than pursuing change – even a change that will undoubtedly be positive for their family!
To sum it up…
- Your company has found the right candidate for the job.
- Show them and their family how Northeast Ohio would be a great home for them by providing important, customized information and creating a great first impression.
- Then give them two weeks to accept your offer.
Does your company need help showcasing Northeast Ohio to recruits? Executive Arrangements can carefully and honestly create a great first impression of our region and provide all of the information necessary to make a candidate and their family feel confident in a relocation. EA provides completely custom orientations and necessary settling in services that will enable first choice candidates to visualize their new life in Northeast Ohio.
Here are a few articles regarding job offer etiquette that you might find helpful…
How long should a company give a candidate to consider a job offer?
Managing: How long to give a candidate to think over a job offer?
How long should you give a candidate to mull over a job offer?
Need help securing the right recruits? EA’s services will help your recruits and their families feel inspired, valued by your company, and ‘at home’ in Cleveland, Akron or Canton. Call us at 216.231.9311.