Best Way to Handle the Offer, Follow-Up, and Closing of an Interview

Recruiting rarely ends with the interview. When is the last time you ended an interview by saying, “I’d like to offer you the position,” and had the interviewee reply, “Great when do I start?” Usually you have to follow up with an interviewee in order to close the deal.

The Offer

Even employers who have given considerable thought to the recruitment process often treat making an offer as a perfunctory formality. They never think much about it, nor do they recognize its potential as a selling tool.

Reasonable employers may differ as to whether an offer should be extended on the same day an interviewee visits the company. In part, the answer may depend upon the length of your recruitment process. If that process involves several visits to the company and extensive interviews, you may be able to make the decision on the day of the candi­date’s last visit.

I prefer not to make an offer the day a candidate visits the company. For one thing, it prevents an orderly and thorough consideration of candidates. It is difficult, if not impossible, to collect comments from everybody the inter­viewee has seen, to evaluate those comments and to compare the interviewee with other candidates you may have seen. (One definite advantage of extending an offer when the candidate is in the office, though, is that you can do it in person.)

Some employers feel that making an offer on the day a candidate visits is a powerful selling tool. It shows a decisive company, they argue, and one clearly interested in the candi­date. That may be so, but it does not show a deliberate company, or one that takes the offer process seriously. Many candidates, even top candidates, like to feel that a company has gone through a thorough evaluation process before extending them an offer. These candidates regard an offer received at the time they visit as a “cheap” offer.

Whether you extend the offer in person or by telephone, keep three principles in mind. First, you want to make the offer with enthusiasm, rather than conveying the impression that the offer is being extended by virtue of a seven-to-six vote in favor of the candidate. Part of what sells a candidate is a sense that the company really wants him. In extending the offer, you may want to congratulate the candidate because you want her to feel that receiving the offer is an accomplishment.

Second, make the offer more personal by mentioning something favorable you recall about your interaction with the person. Or, alternatively, refer to something about the person that others at your company commented upon positively.

Third, use the offer conversation to gather information that may be helpful in hiring the person. Make sure you know where, when, and how the person can be reached, and gather whatever information you can regarding the status of her decision-making process, her concerns, your principal competition, and the likely timing of her decision. This information will be useful in the follow-up process.

Even when you are rejecting a candidate, you should sell your company. (Remember that the candidate you reject may later become a customer of the company or may be a good friend of another candidate you are trying to hire.) Be as sensitive and helpful as you can in the course of rejecting a candidate. Where appropriate, suggest other avenues the candidate may wish to pursue.

Follow-up

Especially when you are engaged in a recruitment effort at a university, follow-up is critical. Your objective should be to make the candidate feel loved, but not bothered. Exercise central control over the type and frequency of these contacts through whoever is in charge of your recruitment efforts. You may wish to escalate the level of the person contacting the interviewee, i.e., use a more senior officer, as decision time approaches.

Pay attention to the timing of your follow-up. Frequent contacts early in an interview season, at a time when the candidate is not apt to be making a decision, are not likely to be productive and may well annoy the candidate. On the other hand, a contact around decision-making time may make the difference between attracting a candidate or not.

Many candidates are hard to reach on the phone so letters may be a more efficient means of follow-up with a candidate, and certainly will be easier. An occasional phone call in the evening, however, is effective. Where convenient, plan a lunch or dinner or a visit to the company (either for local candidates or for out-of-town candidates when they are in town visiting other companies).

There’s no rule as to who should be doing the follow-up contact. Both senior and junior people may be effective, depending upon the circumstances. A person (or persons) who established good rapport with the candidate, either on campus or in the company, should be assigned to follow up with each candidate who is extended an offer. Where out-of-town candidates are involved, a contact by a company employee who happens to have business in the town in which the candidate is located can be very effective, even if that employee has had no prior contact with the candidate. Even when a candidate is in your area, you may ask an employee who you would have liked to see the candidate (but who was not available) to contact the candidate. Besides being flattering to the candidate, contact by somebody the candidate has not met before demonstrates that people at the company talk to one another. That may be especially effective in overcoming concerns about the large size of a company.

Closing

Closing is the process of helping (not pushing) candidates to make decisions that are good for them. Making a decision is difficult for candidates, both because the decision is often perceived to be an important, lifetime commitment, and because the job-seeking process fosters indecision, and encourages candidates to maximize their options.

Most decisions are compromises—choosing the best available, not the perfect choice. Your job in closing is to show the candidate why your company is the best available decision for her. Often, that decision will be made on intan­gibles such as the “atmosphere” at the company (the cliché for salespersons is “sell on the tangible, close on the intangible”).

Of course, the timing of closing will depend on factors such as what interviews the candidate may have left. But too many employers resist trying to close because they fear being rejected. As long as the offer is outstanding, they “still have a chance.” But trying for an early close may assist you in several ways: (a) you will find out where you stand; (b) you may gain more information that is useful in closing later; (c) you may succeed in closing; and (d) if you are rejected, you will be able to focus your attention on other real prospects. So don’t be afraid to ask a candidate to accept an offer, or to explain what his hesitations in accepting are.

Throughout the follow-up and closing process, you should use information you have gathered during your inter­views. By focusing on a candidate’s particular concerns and interests, you will show your genuine interest in him and be able to direct your follow-up and closing efforts to what really matters.

Interviewee’s Perspective

Interviewees may have occasion to follow up, as well. You may wish to send a personal letter to an interviewer, thanking her for the time she spent with you. One caution, though. Do not follow up merely to show off your word processing prowess. Employers are not impressed by form letters sent to each person you interviewed with during a day at the company. And you may rest assured that your letters will be compared by those who receive them. One letter is quite sufficient; more than sufficient if you have nothing special to say. Save postage—and trees.

Indeed, in the wrong hands, a word-processing system can be a dangerous weapon. Consider this letter received by a prominent law firm:

Dear____________:

I am currently a third-year student at _____________School of Law. Because of the number of students participating in the on-campus interviews this year, I was unable to interview with you during your recent visit to ____________. Because I am interested in working for 60606, I am writing to request an inter­view.

I have enclosed a copy of my resume. As you can see, I have a strong academic background and have done work for several types of law firms.

Again I am very excited at the prospect of meeting with you to discuss employment possibilities at 60606.

Any consideration given this request will be appreciated. I look forward to hearing from you.

Very truly yours,

The poor student had substituted the firm’s zip code for the firm name. Or, from the other side of the table, consider the tale I was told by a friend who sent “personalized” rejection letters to a group of interviewees only to find, after the letters were mailed, that the word processor ID below his signature said “form rejection letter no. 2.”

Should you find that you need additional information to make your job decision, you should not hesitate to ask for it. And if you were not able to see a sufficient number of people at the company, or if a key player was not available when you visited, a request to spend more time at the com­pany may be perfectly appropriate. Do all of this in modera­tion, though. Make one request for additional information, not six separate requests for six different items from six different people. Visit the company one more time, not three. The impression you create between the time an offer is extended to you and the time you accept it will stick with you once you arrive at the company.

If you have not received a decision from the company within the time they told you you would, or especially if you need to hear earlier because of a deadline imposed by another job offer, don’t hesitate to call the company. A company may be able to decide more quickly than it other­wise would if it knows that you need to hear. It would be foolish for you to rule out an employer you are truly inter­ested in without warning them that you need a decision.

To the extent that you are the recipient of follow-up from an employer, be enthusiastic and be honest. Show appreciation for receiving an offer, even if you expect to reject it. Remember that you may be dealing with people at the company as colleagues in your industry or as customers or clients, or you may be seeking a position with the company later in your career.

During the follow-up, be honest with the employer as to the status of your decision-making process. When you have eliminated an employer, reject its offer even if you have not decided which offer you will accept. Do that in fairness to the employer and to other candidates for the position. After all, you would want other candidates for positions you may be interested in to do that for you.

Try not to resent being “bothered” by follow-up from the employer. Regard calls and letters as signs the company is truly interested in you. If you really do feel harassed by follow-up, try tactfully to let your prospective employer know, either by indicating that you will not be in a position to make a decision for a period of time and will call them as soon as you know, or by saying that you are flattered by all of the attention, but you now think you have all of the information you will need about the company to make a decision.

Finally, when you accept an offer, do it with enthusiasm. Remember, accepting an offer may be the end of the recruit­ment process, but it is the beginning of your job with the company. Start that job out on the right foot.