How Do You Handle Candidates Backing Out Last Minute After Accepting Job Offers?

Hello All,

Right now, I am frequently facing a serious problem. We have an urgent requirement for a Senior Software Engineer in our firm. After a lot of hard work, we found some suitable candidates and provided them with an offer letter, along with their chosen joining date. However, on that day, they did not show up for joining.

I received a simple email stating, "I have some problem, can't join."

Please help me with what I should do in this case.

Thank you.

Hi,

Whenever you have anybody appointed, the chances of them backing out are high because he or she may look for better opportunities based on various factors. These factors can include CTC, benefits, onsite opportunities, designation, technology, domain, and even the company name.

If a candidate finds all of these factors met in one job offer, there is a lower possibility of them backing out. However, it is not possible everywhere.

So, always take a step back whenever you make an offer to anyone. To convince your candidate, talk to them about the benefits, let me know if there is an onsite opportunity, and discuss any chances of promotion or appraisal, whether it's half-yearly or yearly.

Let's see if this approach works.

Regards,
Niitu
9819126662

Hi,

Whenever you have anybody appointed, the chances of them backing out are high because he or she may look for better opportunities in terms of various factors included. It can be CTC, benefits, onsite opportunities, designation, technology, domain, and even company name.

If the candidate finds all these factors in one place, there is a lower possibility of them backing out, but it's not possible everywhere. So, always be prepared when offering a position to someone. To convince your candidate, inform them about the benefits, let them know if there is an onsite opportunity available, and inquire about any chances of promotion and appraisal, whether it's half-yearly or yearly.

Let's see if this approach works.

Regards,
Niitu
9819126662

One cause could be improper, confused, vague communication between the company, consultant, and employee, with the consultant being in the middle.

Madhu,

Raghav's analysis is comprehensive and excellent. He has provided you with many areas that you can utilize to effectively evaluate a candidate.

However, human nature is never predictable, and often, despite all your efforts, a candidate may decline the offer at the last minute, putting you in a very uncomfortable position.

One alternative is to have a backup candidate; be transparent with them, inform them that another candidate is also under consideration, but if the first choice declines, you will extend the offer to them instead. Although not always feasible, it is worth considering!

Jeroo

Hi everyone,

This is not a problem exclusive to the IT industry alone. We have experienced this issue across various sectors. Our general observations indicate that candidates who have been with one particular organization for a longer duration are often held back either monetarily or emotionally.

Abhay Gadiyar
Nitya Placements

Hello,

Please note that for such a problem, you have some solutions as outlined below:

1) When you apply for a specific position, you will typically encounter multiple candidates. You then have the option to issue an appointment letter to the top candidate (No. 1) and keep the other candidates (No. 2 or No. 3) on hold. If the chosen candidate does not join, you are left with no choice but to contact the candidates on hold, i.e., No. 2 and No. 3. This is the only recourse you have.

2) Additionally, you can terminate the services of the consultant who provided the candidate. By doing so, you can ensure that such issues are avoided in the future.

Thank you,
Sampathkumar

You should give them another chance. Maybe they could be in some problem, or you can search for new candidates.

Hi Shridhar,

I just uploaded the article posted on CiteHR a long time back. Due credit goes to the actual author. :)

Regards,
Raghav V

Hi,

The problem you are facing is a normal one. As you should know, nowadays, competition has been reaching its peak, so you should be prepared for that. When you give an offer letter to a few people, you should select a few more people than the required number. For example, if you need 2 senior software engineers, you should select 4 people so that if one is unable to continue, you still have replacements ready. So, don't lose hope; it is part of the game. The show must go on. Quickly interview a few more candidates and fill your positions. Also, ensure that candidates with a short notice period of 15 to a maximum of 20 days are shortlisted.

All the best for your new hires. Take care.

‘Offer decline', ‘no shows', ‘run away' are major challenges for any Organization today, be it tier 1 or tier 3. I have worked very closely with IBM and the above said cases did happen with the same too though being one of the best employers in the globe.

Such cases could be avoided by probing more into the interest of the resource who is proposing himself for a job opportunity. Today's IT industry being so dynamic its highly challenging for any recruiter to get the right resource and in a pressure to deliver they do not probe much or I wud say right kind of validation is not being done, which is one of the reasons for such cases. As one of the members have listed most of the reasons and the rest being beyond our control, I wud only recommend to do better on what ever is in our control.

While talking to a candidate look out for signals which you shud be aware of. Candidates exhibit some signals which can give you indications of such cases.

1. While you ask for their joining period or expected CTC, candidates wud reply without a commitment saying “let me take the i/v first and lets look into those things later” – drop these kind of candidates. If he / she is serious for a change, wud give u a sharp reply or ask for your recommendations.

2. Candidates skipping i/vs repeatedly – don't pursue with them.

3. Candidates well settled in their native place – do not attempt to convince them to relocate them, most of them take a momentary decision and step back later.

4. Ask them to answer frankly “is there anything that wud stop u to decline the offer or step back in the last minute” . Post this Q boldly to them and observe their response, most of the candidates come out with fact here. Try it and u will know.

5. Ask them if they have applied / attended i/v elsewhere and awaiting result. If they have offers in hand, ask them how they weigh it against the offer which u r gona give them. If they say they weigh urs more, ask them y and c if the answer is logical.

U have more to probe like this. Finally, I wud reiterate, do not deliver a CV under pressure to deliver w/o probing in or validating completely.

Always have a back up to offer the client as soon as u come to know about such cases.

U shud be the one to come to know about such cases first rather than client calling u and telling the candidate didn't turn up or he ran away.

Regds,

suba

Hi,

This kind of problem is faced by every HR.

You can't stop such things nor can take action. The least you can do is to have a backup of some final-round shortlisted candidates with you. If one doesn't join, then immediately you can give an offer letter to another.

What I do is send 3-4 candidates for the final round, out of which in case at least 2 or 3 are shortlisted, then I will pick the best candidate and issue an offer letter. For the rest, I tell them that we need time to think for a week and also inform them that if they receive another offer from another company, they can proceed.

During this week, if the person rejects the offer, then immediately, I will issue an offer letter to the next suitable person. After a week, I inform the remaining candidates that we have kept their profiles on hold because I don't want them to waste their time.

If the person rejects the offer after more than 10 days, I will issue an offer letter to another person whose profile is on hold and who is still interested. However, we should never disclose to that person that we have already issued an offer letter to someone else and it was rejected. This ensures the reason for the offer letter.

I hope I answered your question.

Thanks,
Pallavi.

I am replying to Sampath Kumar who said that the consultant from whom the candidate was hired should be fired. I think that is totally unfair. No consultant can give surety for a candidate to join, because after all, the candidate will make a decision depending on the offers he has and his problems. After all, the candidate and consultant are two separate people, and you cannot blame one person for another person's decision!

Employee Rights and Offer Letter Strategies

The employee has a right to pursue what he feels is the best job for him, and it may not always be with your firm, so be prepared for it.

Don't expect everyone you offer a job to, to join. Draft your offer letter in a way that if the employee does not join by the due date, you are no longer obligated to hire them. Retain the right to appoint someone else. Interview and select more candidates than you actually need. Stagger the offer letter dates to protect yourself against the possibility of some candidates not accepting the offer.

As we know, every organization implements an HR policy that includes a separate Recruitment & Selection policy designed prior to the hiring process. Please amend the policy to include Legal Action, where you should mention the following points:

1. Steps to take if a candidate does not join after accepting the Offer Letter.
2. Security deposit of a certain amount (refundable).
3. Clear all matters during the interview itself.

Please let me know if you need any further assistance or clarification.

It is not an industry-specific problem; it is very much present in every industry and at every level. Essentially, the candidates, after procuring the offer letter with the revised CTC, get into a phase wherein they can now negotiate with the existing employer in terms of CTC/onsite opportunity, etc. Apart from this, they also negotiate with other prospective employers.

Keeping a backup of the candidate (as a gentleman recommended) would directly impact the company's credibility in the market, so that isn’t a viable option. Clear communication with the positives and practical benefits might be lucrative.

Madhu, Raghav's analysis is comprehensive and excellent. He has provided you with many areas that you can utilize to secure a candidate to the best of your ability. However, human nature is never predictable, and often, despite all your efforts, the candidate may refuse at the last minute, putting you in a very uncomfortable position.

Backup Candidate Strategy

The only other option is to have a backup candidate. Be honest with them; inform them that another person is also being considered. Should the first candidate decline, you can then revert to the backup candidate and extend the offer instead. While not always feasible, it is worth a try!

Jeroo's statement is indeed true. From a legal standpoint, you cannot bind a person who has not committed to a contractual agreement. Therefore, it is futile to ponder ways to resolve this issue. Having a backup candidate, as suggested, is a more practical approach.

Regards,
Legal Hawk

Now, what can be done? Forget and start the new recruitment process. Nowadays, believe me, the attrition rate is quite high in every industry.

One suggestion I can give is in a pharmaceutical company - have all the nearby HR professionals join hands and create a forum (an agreement). In this forum, we signed an agreement stating that we shall not recruit any employees from the forum. Initially, there were only 15 HR professionals, but later it increased to 145 and is still rising. Slowly, the attrition rate among the HR Forum team reduced.

As an HR manager, the situation of candidates backing out at the last minute is very familiar. It's tiresome enough that you have the position empty again and have to go through the entire process once more. I think the best ways to deal with candidates backing out at the last minute are to sell the vision of the company and hire candidates with potential rather than already experienced and polished talent.

To know more about what makes a candidate back out at the last minute and ways to deal with it, you should check out this article: https://quikchex.in/prevent-candidates-backing/