Set the Scene:
You’ve got to the offer stage for a new role.
The recruiter introduces you to an opportunity to work at a firm that ticks most, if not all of the discussed boxes for your new employment. You are in the process of job offer negotiations.
More work-life balance, higher salary, flexibility, a promotion, a positive and friendly team, a step up in tiers, part-time/full-time hours… but you’re hesitating … you decline the opportunity.
You’re gutted and frustrated. The recruiter is confused and doing damage control. The potential employer is feeling disappointed and that their time has been wasted. All parties leave with a bad taste in their mouths!
What went wrong?
During the recruitment process, the biggest strength and biggest sabotager is communication. Clear and honest communication between candidate and recruiter, recruiter and client, and candidate and employer can make or break a job opportunity.
The Recruiter & Candidate Relationship:
The first hurdle is the initial communication between the candidate and the recruiter. As a specialist Public Practice Recruiter at Tyler Wren, I aim to find candidates looking for new roles and match them with clients with the right job opportunities. When I find a candidate, the first thing I will do is have a Zoom meeting with you to chat about you, your circumstances, your experience, what is going right, what is going wrong, your ambitions, your likes and dislikes and the types of clients and opportunities I am currently working on and how they could align with what you are searching for.
My Why:
Why do I do this? Because how can I place someone in a job if I don’t know them?
It is easy to have a quick phone call, send a quick email and fast-track the recruitment and job offer negotiations processes – especially in a candidate short market like public practice accounting. However, how can you nail the candidate expectations if you don’t know the why behind the want? How can you nail the client’s expectations if you don’t know the why behind the who?
Believe it or not (my husband would disagree about pre-coffee Jaz) – but I also am a people person! Each candidate I work with, I am in charge of helping them achieve their career goals. I am invested in your success. This is whether it is being able to spend more time with the kiddies due to work-life balance goals. Or perhaps being promoted after a stagnant few years. Maybe being part of a team after being previously isolated. What a responsibility but what a privilege too!
Next Steps:
Both parties sharing information during this process create the foundation for trust that supports the ongoing recruitment process and future job offer negotiations. If the communicated details are incorrect – from your salary expectations and position aspirations, all the way down to the reason you are looking for a new job, this can dislodge the ability of the recruiter to align you with the right opportunities. If the recruiter knowingly pushes a role that doesn’t align with your priorities, this also adds to the breakdown of trust and communication. If a client is looking for a unicorn but wants to pay an Intermediate salary – expectations need to be addressed.
So what happens next?
The recruiter works their little butts off lining you up with the information you have provided as a candidate. Marketing you to their clients, following up each week, and exploring all options from the obvious to looking under rocks – all taking time, effort, and resources. You patiently wait, sometimes for days, weeks, or even months, for the right opportunity.
Success! You line up an interview. The recruiter preps you, answers your questions, qualms nerves and wishes you luck. You ace the interview – boxes have been ticked and ones you didn’t even know you needed.
Testing, references, further interviews and job offer negotiations occur. Anticipation builds, all parties become invested, plans start taking place and hope/positivity is at the forefront of people’s minds. Then the final hurdle occurs.
Job Offer Negotiations – The Recruiter, Candidate & Client Dance:
You’ve told your recruiter your non-negotiable expectations:
- Salary
- Work-life balance
- Flexibility
- Team/Culture
- Anything in between
The recruiter has intertwined these expectations with the client from the get-go. Everyone is on the same page – as long as the page is in the same book.
Salaries – if you tell your recruiter your expected range, you damage all reputations if you decline an offer that is within this range. This highlights not only a breakdown in communication and trust but also emphasises the waste of all party’s time. This will have a lasting effect.
As a client, if you offer out-of-the-range, the same reactions can be expected. People can view any further salary increases from this initial offer as you undervaluing and overcompensating, which doesn’t look good.
Work-life balance & Flexibility – if your priority is work-life balance, your recruiter has embedded this into discussions with the client. Remember to be realistic – a day WFH is the norm, but allow time to settle in first. Need flexy-hours? Discuss this during the interview so all parties are on the same page.
Team/Culture – if you are an introvert, don’t sell yourself as an extrovert. If you have an introverted team, don’t sell to the candidate your extroverted team. The truth will come through in the wash regardless.
Anything in-between: if you are going to turn down an offer if it doesn’t have a car park, wear pink on Wednesdays, or shout free lunches – this is non-negotiable and should be communicated to your recruiter from the get-go. Anything brought up at the offer stage, should not come as a surprise. In turn, if your ideal employee is going to decline your offer because you won’t offer them a car park – way up the pros, cons and financial implications – and pick your battles in a competitive market.
Takeaway Thoughts:
If you are working with a recruiter – be honest, communicate openly and work together as a team. If you tell me incorrect information, you will receive incorrect/misaligned results – whether you are a candidate or a client.
In a world where trust can be so easily broken – trust the facts.
- Recruitment is our job and career. We find jobs for those looking for a new role. We balance both client and candidate relationships equally because, without one, there isn’t the other.
- We are literally paid to align candidates and client opportunities so have an invested interest in a positive outcome for all parties involved. We are on the same side.
- We have guarantee periods to uphold after the employment is complete. Therefore, a quick, misaligned employment based on misinformation doesn’t serve our best interests either. We will lose money and reputation if a placement falls through – therefore, it is in all sides party to keep the communication lines honest, open and transparent.
Find out more about Tyler Wren and how we can help you!
Here at Tyler Wren, we know good people know good people, that’s why if you refer someone to Tyler Wren, with whom we secure a new role, we offer a voucher of *$600. Click here to refer to a friend.
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