Interviewing: Making an Offer

I’ve covered just about everything that I wanted to touch base on with my series of interviewing posts, with the exception of making an offer to a candidate. Since there are plenty of books written on negotiation, I’ll consider that out of scope for this series of posts, and just leave you with these few recommendations…

1. Consider broaching the compensation topic early in your discussions – if possible do it before the in-person and establish some type of range so that you’re not wasting anyone’s time.
2. Stick to the plan of getting “X” number of candidates in for the in-person in as short of period of time as possible.
3. If you find a good candidate or two, and have already casually introduced them to your team, schedule another in-person with your entire team as soon as possible so that your team is included in the process and to make sure that there’s a good fit.
4. Make an offer. I typically give candidates 24-hours to make a decision – certainly if they need more time, I can accommodate them. But whatever you do, don’t lose your momentum. If they’re dragging their feet, don’t let so much time pass that you can’t make an offer to the other candidates that you’ve invested time in.

Every organization that employs people has a process for interviewing – even if it's not documented. So if you have any ideas to share, please let me know!