Candidates Are Rejecting Offers

Marcianne Kuethen

December 5, 2015

In spite of our economy’s slow recovery from the 2008 recession, we have increasingly been in a candidate’s market since 2013. For this reason, we’ve been urging you as employers to simplify your candidate process and keep it moving so you don’t lose out on the best candidates. Several of our clients have had some fantastic candidates complete the entire interview process, receive an offer, and reject it. Unfortunately, because it is a candidate’s market, candidates are rejecting offers they feel are not competitive.

“While 63 percent of offers are now being made within four weeks of the first interview (up from 59 percent at the end of 2014), almost half of MRI’s recruiters say the biggest obstacle to making the placement is offers that are too low,” said ERE Media.com this past July. “When a candidate turns down an offer, 25 percent of the time it’s because of money and benefits. And even with speedier offers, 37 percent of turndowns are because the candidate has accepted another job.” Not quite half a year later, the candidate market has become even more competitive.

These rejections amount to a loss of our clients’ money, energy, and time. What’s the solution to prevent this loss? Perhaps it would help to give a clearer explanation for the meaning of a candidate’s market. In a candidate’s market, professional candidates are in high demand and are often fielding multiple job offers at the same time. In other words, candidates, not employers, are driving the labor market. They are accepting jobs on their terms, not yours. This especially applies to terms of compensation. You could very well lose the candidate you’ve spent so much time, effort, and money trying to attract if your compensation package doesn’t measure up to those of your competitors.

What determines competitive compensation? At Amtec, we deal with professional and technical positions every day. In essence, we constantly have our finger on the economy’s pulse. To support the advice we give you, we have used Payscale.com, The Bureau of Labor and Statistics, CareerBuilder, and Applied Analytics for years. Rather than randomly pulling a salary figure out of a hat, these sites constantly track and tabulate numerous compensation data for all kinds of existing jobs by location, job function, years of experience, and more. It can be difficult for a single organization to keep pace with such complex data in a rapidly changing market. That’s where we can help. With our experience and access to these sources, we’re consistently able to accurately advise you about the current range of compensation for any position.

As your recruiting partner in this continuing candidate’s market, we want to help you avoid the pitfalls of the hiring process. Your candidate search is a huge investment of time, energy, and resources. When a candidate rejects your offer, you lose your investment and must begin the process all over again. We’re committed to doing our part to help you make offers that will land the candidates you need. Together, let’s make a great match!

To request a compensation assessment for your open position, discuss a workforce management issue, or request an employee, click here or call (714) 993-1900.

Marcianne Kuethen

Marcianne Kuethen is a Senior Writer at Amtec, where she has written over 700 blog posts in the past 18 years. Her family has led the company across three generations, from her father who founded Amtec in 1959 to her son Barrett who serves as President and CEO today. Outside of writing, she makes art, music, and gardens.