Salary Sticklers: What to Do if a Candidate Rejects Your Offer

Nothing is more frustrating for IT hiring managers than investing a great deal of time finding the perfect job candidate, only to get snagged on salary differences. Naturally, employers want to be as economical as possible, while employees want to maximize their earning potential. Here’s what you can do when salary becomes a sticking point.

• Stand your ground. If your budget is fixed, or you simply don’t feel that the candidate is worth more, then you can hold firm on your initial offer. Sometimes laying out a clear path for advancement (implying a high salary down the road) will make a candidate reconsider your offer.
• Revise the offer. It’s essential to make sure that you’re up-to-date on competitive salaries. A quick visit to sites such as salary.com may reveal that your expectations need to be adjusted, not the candidate’s. If that is the case – or if the candidate is truly outstanding -then you should consider increasing your offer.
• Supplement the offer. If you can’t pay more money, consider doling out more perks instead. Flextime, telecommuting or additional paid time off can sometimes be enough to convince a candidate to accept.
• Propose a “re-opener” clause. If you’re open to paying more once the candidate has proven himself, consider including a salary re-opener clause. In this scenario, the organization agrees to reconsider salary after a prescribed period of time. Ideally, this will be 2-6 months after hiring – any earlier, and the employee hasn’t had enough time to prove herself; any longer, and the tactic loses its motivational value.

Which course of action you choose depends on several factors. Questions a hiring manager should consider include:

• How unique are the applicant’s skills? “Purple squirrels” are rare, and thus don’t come cheap. The shallower the talent pool, the more money you are going to need to spend to make a qualified hire.
• How urgently do you need to fill the position? If an open position is costing the company measurable time and money, then spending a little more on salary might save more in the long run. Conversely, if the opening is causing minimal to moderate impact, then you can keep the purse strings tight and simply move on to the next best applicant.
• How much time have you invested in this candidate? If you’ve spent months finding the perfect fit, it could cost you more to go back to square one and reopen the search. Carefully weigh the dollar difference being requested against the time you’ve already invested.

As the economy continues to improve, employers will need to reassess their current approach to hiring if they want to recruit and retain top IT talent. In addition to finding quality candidates, Triumph Services has the knowledge and expertise to help set hiring expectations that align with the current IT job market. For more information about our services, contact one of our technology staffing specialists today.