Converting Your Offers of Employment to Acceptances

In this competitive job market, top-tier candidates will likely have multiple offers during their job search. Here are a few reminders for how to improve your odds of converting an offer of employment into an acceptance. 

Build Connections with Your Candidates

If you and your colleagues have built a quality connection with the candidate during the interview process, you have a greater chance of them joining your team. Time and time again, people will select a place of employment that they can see themselves happily working over one that offers them more money. 

Do Your Homework

Search online for similar openings to determine if this is a high-demand position, and then compare your salary offer to industry benchmarks. Visit our AAUP Faculty Compensation Survey for that information. Taking these steps will give you a good idea of how competitive your offer will be and the likelihood that your finalist will have additional offers to consider. 

Listen

During the interview process, your candidates should give you insights into what drives them and what they are looking for in their next role: professional growth, work-life balance, research opportunities, mentorship, diversity of colleagues, etc. In the negotiation, highlight how your offer supports and nurtures those specific goals. 

Know Your Benefits Inside and Out

Be sure to review all of the benefits your institution offers to find any competitive advantages to share during the negotiation. Examples include more vacation, additional professional development opportunities, a higher percentage for 401K retirement matches and contributions, better medical plans, on-campus daycare facilities, new facilities and even parking. 

Be Truthful

From the start of the process with the initial job post to when the employment contract is signed, be truthful and transparent with your applicants. If you find that you are stretching the truth in an effort to keep them interested in the opportunity, either don't or make the needed changes to actualize it -- this includes having an accurate job description, a set salary range and itemized benefits. 

Losing a candidate to a competitor can be crushing. Taking the time to think through the negotiation before it begins and sharing a range of benefits and opportunities that are unique to your institution and that align with your candidate's specific interests and goals should limit the number of times you end up losing out in the homestretch of the process.