How to Land the Job When You Know Youre Second Choice

Summary

The all-time role virtually the hiring process is extending an offering to a terrific candidate and taking him or her out to a celebratory lunch when the offering is accustomed. Only what about contacting the candidates that you did not choose? And on the candidate'southward side, while saying yes is easy and fun, turning downwardly an offer, especially subsequently a adequately in-depth interviewing process, can exist both difficult and awkward. Bridgestar'due south Talent-Matching team gives communication and tips for navigating this frequently hard part of the hiring- and job-seeking procedure.

The best part almost the hiring process is extending an offer to a terrific candidate and taking him or her out to a celebratory tiffin when the offering is accustomed. But what about contacting the candidates that you did not choose? And on the candidate's side, while saying yes is easy and fun, turning downwardly an offer, especially afterwards a fairly in-depth interviewing process, tin can be both difficult and bad-mannered.

"People are often conflict averse, and it'southward hard to say no," noted Kathleen Yazbak, the founder of Viewcrest Advisors (and formerly a partner at Bridgespan). Merely saying "no" well – whether y'all're an employer, a search professional, or a job seeker – makes the difference between burning a bridge and maintaining a relationship.

Being able to say "no" effectively begins with good practices early on in the recruiting process. "Ofttimes people interview for a role, and along the mode have some hesitation – maybe most geographic location, or travel requirements – but go on information technology to themselves until they get an offer," said Randi Bussin, career and business coach with Aspire!. "But no employer wants to get caught blindsided by hearing these concerns for the first time afterwards the offer has been made. Individuals demand to bring upwardly these hesitations, especially any deal-breakers, earlier in the procedure. Not in the first interview of form, but definitely once they are on the curt listing."

Yazbak agreed. "Employers should exist getting a sense of candidates' potential deal-breakers forth the style, learning almost individuals' expectations and concerns during the interview process. And they should likewise be clear nearly concerns they accept almost candidates, specially experience gaps or other issues that might put them out of the running. This way, candidates won't be taken past surprise if and when they are turned downwards for the job."

Karen DeMay, Director Executive Search, Wells Fargo (and formerly Regional Managing director of Recruiting at Bridgespan), added: "In that location are specific questions you tin enquire to get these issues out in the open. Candidates tin can ask, 'Are there concerns yous have well-nigh me or my feel that make you question whether I'm right for the office?' Organizations can ask, "Practice you demand any clarification most the role or what information technology would exist like to work hither? Are there any specific questions or concerns on your heed?'"

Clarifying the terms of an offer before saying no (or yep) is as well important. "There is some room for negotiation in nearly offers," notes Janet Albert, Partner at Span Partners LLC (and formerly Regional Director of Recruiting at Bridgespan). "Any big issues should have been discussed earlier in the procedure, and then a candidate might say something like, 'Nosotros talked about a salary range, and given my experience and qualifications I thought yous would offering something on the higher end of that range,' or 'Tin we formalize in the offering what nosotros had talked about in terms of a 4-day work week?,' just shouldn't suddenly try to negotiate out of a geographic move that had always been discussed equally an integral function of the position."

Just say you've been open throughout the procedure, in that location are no specific points to negotiate in the offer, and the time comes to say no. Are there skilful and bad ways to do a plow-down? Yazbak, DeMay, Albert, and Bussin all say yes, and share some practical tips for both employers and individuals.

Tips for employers:

• Be timely. "It'southward a large fault to leave people hanging," said Yazbak. "Avoiding calling a candidate to let them know they are no longer in the running just puts a bad taste in people's mouths well-nigh you lot." This is truthful both for candidates who don't make the screen early in the procedure and for those who are in the running through the final rounds.
• Have the procedure manager make the call. The person who has been managing the process should be the one to make the telephone call, whether that is the executive search firm, an HR director, or the hiring director. In the early on rounds it is mutual do to simply exit a short voicemail if y'all don't reach someone, or even an e-mail, only brusk list candidates deserve the opportunity for a vocalism-to-vocalisation conversation.
• Be clear and succinct in your explanation. "This is of form much easier if the reason you didn't choose the candidate has to do with a skill or experience gap, rather than a personality or 'fit' consequence," said DeMay. In full general, she advises employers to put the turndown in the context of the person who did receive the offer. For example: "Though we were impressed past your delivery to the system and strong direction background, the final candidate had significantly more feel in running multi-site organizations, and that was really important to us."
• Keep your 2nd-selection candidate feasible. Exercise not turn downwards your 2nd choice candidate until your first choice says yes, unless you are positive you wouldn't extend them an offer if things fell through. Yazbak noted, "I've seen clients whose first pick hems and haws, and finally turns downward an offer. Meanwhile, the second selection candidate becomes very enthusiastic when given an offer, and the contrast in responses shows that the second choice was in fact a better fit, making both candidate and employer much happier at the end of the mean solar day."
• Let everyone know whom you selected. Share the terminal result with all candidates (from all stages of the procedure) as well as those involved in the search, and emphasize why the new employee is a great fit. In doing this, search firms typically email anybody involved in the search when the results are official, and personally telephone call those on the short list. Employers managing their own searches can do the same.

Tips for task-seekers turning downwardly an offering:

• Be gracious. When you receive an offer, exist gracious and enthusiastic, and let the hiring organization know that you need a twenty-four hour period or two to think things through.
• Be prompt. Once y'all are sure that you want to pass up the offer, be prompt in contacting the arrangement. In general, this should not accept longer than a week afterwards the offer was extended, barring extenuating circumstances.
• Communicate with the offer-maker. In terms of tactics, call whoever extended the offer to turn it down live. If the person managing the process was in the Hr department or part of a search firm, you lot might also call the hiring manager, specially if he or she spent significant time with yous. Once the calls are made, follow upwards in writing.
• Be succinct and be honest. "Particularly in writing, you should go along the reasoning short and to the bespeak," advised Bussin. Refer to an result that had been discussed earlier in the interview process, such as compensation or travel, or say something along the lines of "this position is not the best fit for me right now, given my career development goals."
• Attain out to those you met forth the way. To maintain relationships y'all adult during the process, information technology is often a proficient idea to drop notes to others y'all got to know through the process and would like to keep in your network, to express appreciation for their time and insight.

Tips for chore-seekers who have been turned-downwardly:

• Be mature and exist gracious. Your reaction to the turn-down tells a lot almost you, so be mature and gracious. Y'all want an employer and/or a search professional to call up of you in a positive light for future searches. Yazbak commented, "As search professionals we're ever looking for good candidates and often contact short-list candidates from one search for a similar position elsewhere. However, if yous handle a turn-downward poorly (i.e., get angry or critical), we may question your judgment and be hesitant to reach out to you over again."
• Learn from the experience. If yous get turned down and were truly surprised and/or disappointed, it is fine to enquire for feedback, as long every bit you practise information technology thoughtfully, non-defensively, and without malice. Bussin commented, "Feedback can help you position yourself meliorate, and tin requite y'all insight into which skills to emphasize and ways to amend your interviewing skills. As long as you go into it with the attitude of 'I want to larn from this experience,' rather than 'how could you turn me down,' employers may be willing to give constructive feedback." She shared the story of one short-list candidate who asked for feedback from a company he was very interested in. The visitor was impressed with how he handled himself, he got good feedback on his interview style, and several months later he interviewed for another position at the aforementioned visitor. The outcome? He got the offer and took the job.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license are available in our Terms and Conditions.

brownyouted.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.bridgespan.org/insights/library/hiring/saying-no

Share this post