Hiring exceptional people for your business can be challenging. Many companies strive to get recruitment right, but managing each stage of the process effectively often requires insight and expertise. At WE Talent, we specialise in supporting Essex businesses with recruitment solutions tailored to their needs. One area where local companies frequently seek our guidance is the job offer process.

When filling a hard-to-recruit role, the strength of your job offer plays a pivotal role in securing the right candidate. For highly skilled positions, it’s common for top-tier talent to have multiple opportunities in front of them. To avoid losing a strong candidate to a competitor, employers need to ensure their offer stands out.

If you're managing your own recruitment, here’s our advice on how to present a job offer that resonates, ensuring both your organisation and the candidate are satisfied with the outcome.

Why job offers are more than just salary
For candidates, salary is often a baseline consideration but it’s not the be-all and end-all. As recruiters, we often see that, regardless of market conditions, candidates weigh up other factors when deciding whether to accept a job offer. 

Besides pay, candidates will also consider what the role will offer them in terms of work-life balance, career development, lifestyle and other preferences. Asking candidates questions about these preferences during the job interview will usually provide clues about which motivating factors are most important to them. 

When preparing the job offer to present to a candidate, we recommend considering the role in its entirety, including its non-salary benefits and working conditions. All these factors, when packaged together thoughtfully, will increase your organisation's ability to secure the best candidate for the job.

Tips on what to include in a job offer 
Along with a competitive salary, perks that form a package tailored to the candidate’s individual needs can include: 

• Pension plans (particularly if you’re able to offer more than the statutory norm) 
• Bonuses or incentives (such as performance-based bonuses, employee shares, gifts, and when these are paid) 
• Flexible working arrangements (such as hybrid working, flexible start and end times, compressed work weeks, or job sharing) 
• Hours per week (including time allocated for lunch)
• Healthcare and dental benefits (such as insurance plans, or access to discounted services) 
• Car/travel allowance (and any parking arrangements available)
• Holiday allowance (and options to buy additional leave or sell accrued holiday leave) 
• Learning & development assistance (such as such as tuition reimbursement, training programmes, or access to educational resources) 
• Employee assistance programmes (including helplines, mental health support services and wellbeing initiatives)
• Anything else! do you have charity initiatives you support, team building events, team breakfasts or lunches, dress down days or other cultural rewards? Tell your new starter, this builds a picture of your organisation and can be a warm and exciting part of the offer

A well-crafted job offer entices candidates and signals that you want to see them succeed and thrive in your business.  

Get professional support for hiring
Working with an experienced recruiter can drastically improve the outcomes of your job offers. With expertise across multiple industries, we help businesses tailor their job offers to secure the right people for their teams. To get professional advice and support, contact us at WE Talent today, via our website: we-talent.co.uk, phone: 01206 616 656 or email: hello@we-talent.co.uk.