Finally you have the ideal new employee sitting in front of you in their first interview seat.
The temptation is to make them an offer on the same day.
I say don’t!

The reason I am writing this article is because this week alone I have seen two good offers declined by potential candidates that were made on the day of the interview. It is heart breaking when you know that they are perfect match!

Offering candidate’s employment on the day that you interview them sends a very desperate message to your potential candidate.

A fast offer can actually be seen as unprofessional by your candidate.
“If you hired me so fast, what does it say about the quality of rest of your team and your management?”
It does not matter that you have spent the last month screening a plethora of applicants. It does not matter that you have recruited the same role over and over again.
The art of making people feel important, and that they earned their place is critical.
The message that candidate hears is that you value good employees, you value quality and that this role is important.

My advice (and yes this is a recruiter speaking!) is to do the reference checks first, call them back for a second interview and make an offer after that.
Another common practice I have when making the offer is to advise them of how many applicants that you have screened. As a recruiter, it usually is over 100.
How good would you feel if your new employer said, “After screening over 100 applicants, I pleased to say that you were the best candidate, congratulations!
It also sends the message that there is a lot of competition in the market place for similar roles.