Before you call
Three decisions made in advance, because none of them should be made under pressure on a call.
Your ceiling, and what justifies the top of the band. Write it down. A number invented during a negotiation is a number you will exceed.
What is fixed and what is flexible. Start date, working pattern, equipment, title, and learning budget are often more moveable than base pay and matter more to some candidates than an extra few percent.
Whether you would go again. If this candidate declines, do you have a second choice or are you restarting? Knowing the honest answer changes how hard you should try, and pretending otherwise to yourself leads to overpaying out of fear.
Worth checking before you make any offer
Pay transparency rules now require salary information at various stages in several jurisdictions, and equal pay obligations apply to how you set bands. Check what applies where you are hiring rather than assuming, particularly if you hire across borders.
Making the offer
Call, and lead with why you want them specifically
Not the package first. Two sentences about what you saw in the process and why the team wants them. Then the offer.
Candidates take offers from people who seem to want them. This costs nothing and is skipped constantly.
Call first, alwaysState the whole package, not just base
Salary, any variable, equity if there is any, holiday, working pattern, start date, and anything unusual about how you work.
A candidate comparing two offers will compare everything. Giving them the full picture verbally means they are not guessing while they wait for the document.
The whole thing, out loudSay what happens next and when
"I will send this in writing this afternoon, take until Tuesday, and call me before then with any questions."
Naming the deadline yourself is better than leaving it vague and then chasing, which reads as pressure.
Name the deadlineAsk directly whether anything gives them pause
Right there on the call, before they hang up. "Is there anything about this you are unsure about?"
The concern raised in that moment is usually solvable. The same concern discovered a week later has hardened into a decision.
Ask, then be quietSend it in writing the same day
Everything you said, plus the conditions: references, right to work, notice period, anything the offer depends on.
Same day matters. A verbal offer followed by two days of silence is read as second thoughts.
Same day, no exceptions
When they counter
Nearly everyone counters, and it says nothing negative about them.
Ask what would make it work, rather than debating the number. Sometimes the answer is not money: an earlier review, a title, a working pattern, a start date that lets them take a break.
Meet a reasonable counter within your band and say yes clearly. A grudging yes delivered after three days of consideration costs you most of the goodwill the raise buys. If you are going to agree, agree well.
When it is above your ceiling, say so plainly and explain the band. "That is above where we can go for this role, and here is how the band works." Candidates respect a real constraint. What damages trust is a ceiling that moves under pressure, because it tells them the first number was not honest.
Do not counter with an exploding deadline. Shortening the decision window in response to a negotiation is coercive and gets talked about publicly.
If you raise the offer, be careful about internal consistency. Paying a new joiner above an existing person doing the same work is a problem that surfaces within a year and is expensive to correct.
Levers other than base pay
| Lever | Often matters most to |
|---|---|
| Start date, or a break before starting | Someone leaving a difficult job |
| Working pattern, days in an office | Anyone with caring responsibilities |
| Equipment and setup budget | People who work with tools daily |
| Learning budget or conference time | Earlier-career candidates |
| Title | Anyone whose next move is external |
| An early review at three or six months | Someone taking a pay risk on a small company |
| Extra holiday | Almost everyone, and often cheaper than salary |
The six-month review is the most useful item on this list for a small company with limited cash. It lets you close a gap without committing to it before either side knows how the role is going, and it is honest as long as you actually hold the review.
When they decline
Ask why, once, and take the answer at face value. You are not reopening it. You are learning whether you lost on money, on the role, on the manager, or on the process.
Ask what nearly made them say yes. Frequently more informative than why they declined.
Leave the relationship intact. Candidates who decline take other jobs that do not work out, and they talk to other people in your market. The way an offer ends is remembered. The same principle applies to candidates you reject, covered in turning down a candidate without burning the relationship.
Record the reason with the rest of your hiring notes. Three declines for the same reason is a pattern about your role, your pay band, or your process, not three unlucky candidates.
And when someone does accept, the offer is not the finish line. The gap between acceptance and start date is when second thoughts and counter-offers from their current employer arrive. Stay in contact, send something useful, and have their first week genuinely ready, which is what onboarding a new hire in their first five days is for.
Frequently asked questions
- Should you make a job offer by phone or email?
- Call first, then send it in writing the same day. A verbal offer lets you convey enthusiasm and hear their immediate reaction, which is information you never get from an email. The written version is what they will actually decide on.
- How long should a candidate have to decide?
- Three to five working days for most roles, more if they are relocating or in a long notice period. Exploding offers of 24 hours read as a warning about how the company treats people, and word travels.
- Should you negotiate on salary?
- Know your ceiling before the call and treat it as real. Within that band, meeting a reasonable counter is usually worth it: the gap is small against the cost of restarting a search, and starting someone on a number they resent is expensive in other ways.
- What if a candidate uses your offer to negotiate elsewhere?
- It is normal and not a betrayal. Ask directly whether they are weighing another offer and what would make the decision. Being straightforward here often reveals a non-financial concern you can actually address.
- Should offers be the same for everyone in a role?
- Bands should be, and the reasons for a position within a band should be written down. Ad hoc offers based on who negotiated hardest produce pay gaps that are hard to defend later and correlate with who is comfortable negotiating.