Recruiters are taking a hint from the “promposal” trend and finding fun new ways to offer candidates a spot on the team.

“Promposals” started blowing up Instagram a little over two years ago, with American teens finding ever more creative ways to ask their peers to the final dance of Senior year. One high schooler covered their classmate’s car in Post-its spelling out “PROM?”, while another created a faux Hogwarts acceptance letter. There are a million beyond-cute examples, but they all have one thing in common: they demonstrate caring.

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Creative!

A post shared by Prom, Hoco, Sadies, & more! (@the.promposals) on Feb 8, 2017 at 4:42pm PST

Think about it, these eccentric invites are actually really brave. Imagine, these high schoolers are risking rejection and public humiliation at a time in their lives where social judgment is swift and often cruel. Yet these teens set aside those fears, and craft shared interests and inside jokes into a special experience for another person. So, if high schoolers can put themselves out there like that, maybe employers can too?  

In the realm of recruiting, which is all too often impersonal and transactional, here’s some companies who have injected their hiring process with a little bit of youthful exuberance to make the process more meaningful for everyone!

Make a Playlist: Sending a job offer in the form of a playlist, just made sense for Spotify. This personalized listening experience got the candidate stoked on the product and showcased the team’s personality. The music streaming app, hit the quirk on the head with this one because the zany mode of communication makes sense in the context of their product!

Take a close look at this lineup and one sees a broad variety of music genres, but check out the titles to get a load of the main message – they need this candidate, and they’re not afraid to say it!

Get it on the Gram: Tech marketing company HelloWorld put it all on the line by asking a former intern, Samantha Bankey to join the team as a full-time employee via Instagram. As a platform that’s all about making one-on-one connections via marketing, HelloWorld was practicing what they preach by sending the job offer via Bankey’s preferred mode of communication, social media.

The post started on Instagram, but the image of two smiling employees holding a sign asking Bankey to join the team was soon shared to Twitter and Facebook before going semi-viral. Bankey told Mashable of the experience, “When I was tagged in the Instagram post, I first thought, ‘Why would they possibly tag me in something?’ Once I saw what it was, I was in total disbelief. I jumped around and my dogs looked at me in horror like somebody was breaking in or something. I was just so excited.”

Desk Service: With every new hire the financial services firm, The Motley Fool sends new “fools” questionnaires to learn more about their recent recruits, and to make sure that these fresh faces find a totally personalized desk space waiting for them on their first day –  complete with welcome note, swag, posters, and favorite candy.

So what is the key to a perfect “jobposal”? It’s all about personalization: consider the candidate and what would make them feel welcome and excited to join the team. The frills are fun, but even a personal phone call from the hiring manager lets the candidate know the company cares about hiring them specifically. To plan something a little more grandiose, make sure the trappings say something about the actual work experience or the person you are bringing on.

Most importantly, remember that this is good news, awesome news, so enjoy being the bearer!

Losing candidates at the offer stage can destroy a recruiter’s confidence. Here’s how to make an offer even the most demanding job seeker can’t turn down.

After vetting and interviewing down to a final selection, a recruiter’s efforts culminate with a final step, one that can make or break the hiring process: the offer. This moment marks the beginning of a professional working relationship with a new employee, so it’s important the experience is smooth and painless. Communication is key to orchestrating a successful offer, which is why we’ve broken down every stage of the process so recruiters know exactly how to professionally extend a job offer, negotiate terms, and close the deal.

The Setup

As recruiters and candidates work towards a final offer, it’s important that everyone’s expectations are aligned as early as possible. Any mistakes made during the hiring process need to be addressed at this point. Before moving forward, recruiters should have a solid grasp of the following information:

• The company’s preferred start date and salary range for the position (including bonuses, benefits, and company perks)
• The candidate’s requested compensation, desired start date, and most recent compensation (including bonuses, commissions, and benefits)
• Background and reference checks from the candidate’s previous managers.
• The candidate’s motivation for wanting the position

While financial compensation is the top concern for candidates, many of today’s job seekers place a high value on company culture and work-life balance, making them important considerations when entering salary negotiations. Knowing what truly matters to the candidate is essential information that can help close the deal.

Prime Your Serious Candidates

Recruiters should discuss a possible job offer with serious candidates during a late-stage interview or a post-interview phone call. This gives recruiters another opportunity to discuss the candidates’ expectations and ensure they align with the company’s position. Emphasizing that the conversation is not an offer, and that other candidates may still be considered, recruiters can assess the candidate’s salary expectations, targeted start date, and benefits package. Does the candidate agree with these terms? This is another opportunity to uncover obstacles that could slow the offer process, such as counter offers from current employers.

Professionally Communicate & Deliver the Offer

Normally, a recruiter verbally communicates the offer before sending an official letter. In addition to the phone or in-person confirmation, an email announcing the offer along with an attached formal letter is common practice. For even faster offers, many modern ATS platforms automate approvals for candidates and hiring teams, preventing unnecessary delays in the sign-off process. When sending this email, the body copy should briefly reinforce the company’s culture, values, and the opportunity being offered—save the professional language and fine print for the job offer letter. There, be sure to include the following:

• Congratulations to the candidate
• New job title & short job description
• An agreed-upon start date
• Work hours
• Probation period
• Base salary, bonuses, or commissions
• Any legal requirements (employment visa, non-disclosure agreements, etc.)
• Health benefits
• Time off entitlements
• Other benefits
• Deadline for candidate response

Timing and momentum are crucial, and maintaining a fast-paced hiring plan ensures candidates aren’t being lost in the tangles of lengthy processes. In today’s job market, top-quality candidates juggle multiple offers at once, and will not wait for companies that procrastinate. With tech-forward features in modern ATS’s like real-time offers and one-click offer acceptances, hiring teams have no excuse for not closing candidates quickly and effectively. Remember: your top choice candidate is likely a top choice at another company as well. Almost half of employers in a recent recruiter sentiment study said their offer rejection rates range from one to 10 percent. Top reasons candidates turned down offers included: accepting another job, insufficient compensation and lengthy hiring practices.

Recruiters can pitch their company and appeal to the candidate’s motivation by describing the candidate’s immediate and meaningful impact on the team, highlighting future career opportunities, and mentioning the company’s strengths (growth potential, desirable culture, financial security, etc). Recruiters should aim to connect the candidate’s previous experience and skills to the new position, and demonstrate how this will positively impact their career growth.

Negotiating Salary

Inevitably, recruiters will need to negotiate financial compensation in order to maintain a candidate’s interest. Some factors to take into consideration include:

• The candidate’s quality, cultural fit, and value to the company
• The industry standard rate for the position
• Cost of living adjustments based on the city
• The possibility of a counter-offer from a current employer

Rather than approach the salary negotiation as a way to secure the best candidate for the lowest price, recruiters should package the job as an opportunity for long-term career growth.

Reiterate and Close

The more preparation a recruiter can do before extending the official offer, the more likely a candidate will be receptive and agreeable to the terms. Recruiters who bond with candidates by aligning the candidate’s skills, experiences, and motivations with those of the company prepare them for a rewarding career path. The more these expectations are communicated before and during the offer stage, the more likely the employee will put forth their best work for the company. By streamlining the job offer process with a technology-forward approach, recruiters get top candidates to “Yes” quicker.

3. Tech Marketing firm, ePrize showed their love for Samantha Bankey over Instagram. As told by Mashable, Samantha was highly engaged with the company’s Instagram never missing the opportunity to comment or like a photo. This is a long-term love affair. Samantha interned with ePrize over the summer but no fulltime positions were available, when a job opened up nearly a year later in May they made the position available to her.

Samantha had to tell me about getting a job offer via Social Media:

“The great thing about my story is that it really shows the culture and atmosphere that ePrize has. It’s a very fun, vibrant place to work. It’s their job to develop relationships with brands so they can help with their digital presence. They do a lot of work through social channels (like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and so on) so what better way to practice what they preach than to get employees involved?”

If your company is a tech-marketing firm, use those core characteristics as a main function in your communication with candidates. If you’re engaging them over social media, and getting more involved than the typical surface level communications, candidates will know you’re dedicated to the work you do and surely accept your offer – Samantha did!

2. 42Floors, a startup merging tech and real-estate, proclaimed their affection in a love letter, I mean job offer, for Dan Shipper on their blog. 42Floor states clearly why they want Dan to join their team, he’s a gifted developer, he’s started multiple companies of his own, he’s a talented writer, a cornerstone in the hacker community – oh and did I mention at the time he was only a sophomore in college? Well, he was. But this didn’t stop 42Floors Co-Founder Jason Freedman from attempting to court Shipper in a very public way. Shipper decided not to take the job, but what makes this job offer unique – besides the fact that it’s totally public – 42Floors stated even if he turned down the job they’ll support his endeavors. On top of that the job offer has no expiration date, so if Shipper changes his mind 42Floors will open its doors to him.

The heart wants what the heart wants. If you’re sure the candidate is THE ONE for the job, you have to do whatever it takes to recruit them to work for your company – even if that means being patient. 

1. Do you believe in love at first sight? CEO of YouTube Chad Hurley sure does. He offered Feross Aboukhadijeh a job over Twitter within 14 hours of Aboukhadijeh releasing YouTube Instant (a site he took only 3 hours to build!) Aboukhadijeh is in the business of developing great programs, a skill YouTube did not want to miss. Aboukhadijeh ended up turning down the offer and is currently working to make websites faster and more reliable with his own startup peerCDN. Despite turning down the offer, a public display of affection from the CEO of YouTube is something anyone would feel great about.

Hey @freethefeross! Loving YouTube Instant… http://feross.net/instant/ Want a job?

— Chad Hurley (@Chad_Hurley) September 10, 2010

Aboukhadijew told me this about his experience:

“Getting a job offer over Twitter from YouTube’s CEO, Chad Hurley, was an amazing and unique experience. At first, I wasn’t sure if the offer was real or not, and the tweet almost got lost amidst the noise of my Twitter stream (especially because YouTube Instant was going viral and I was getting lots of mentions!). But once I realized that it was a real job offer, I was excited and couldn’t believe my luck! If you’re recruiting over Twitter, definitely have the CEO make the offer, and be careful to not make Twitter your only recruiting method since I almost missed the tweet! If you don’t hear back in a few days, I would definitely follow-up with an email.”

The instant acknowledgement of his craft is proof YouTube is always keeping an eye out for new great talent, and they recognize it when they see it. Remember the market is competitive, if you’re proactive about attracting the talent you want on your team you’ll be a step ahead of the competition.

There you have it, three awesome stories of job offers being made over social media. The social recruiting climate is changing, if you can attract, source and engage candidates over social networks why not complete the process there too? Corporate Interview Processes, move out of the way – social media is in town!

As I mentioned last week, recruiting is a lot like dating.  When you’ve found the right candidate, making a job offer can be just as tricky.  A job offer is a contract that involves negotiation, strategy, and understanding the psychological needs of the candidate.

As you and the hiring manager have spent time interviewing and getting to know the candidate, hopefully you’ve taken time to discuss topics like salary expectations, job requirements, benefits, and career advancement opportunities.  These are important in getting to know your potential employees by understanding what matters and motivates them.  It’s also important in how you will position and present the job offer making sure you highlight some of the most important perks surrounding the job that your candidate mentioned earlier in the process.

BENEFITS AND BENEFITS

People want to get behind their work, and know their employer has their back. Benefits provide security, and state of mind. Selling someone solely on salary (even if it is $1,000,000) is like trying to sell someone oil because it can rest atop water. Yeah, that is an impressive feature of oil. But the benefit of oil is that it works with your car and gets you where are want to go. The benefit of a new job is the opportunity to change the world of the candidate.

After bringing in your candidate and presenting them with the offer, you want to focus on the benefits long before you share with them the compensation package.  Money is important, but isn’t the primary motivator when a candidate accepts a job offer. If the salary isn’t overwhelming (which it often isn’t), consider leading with benefits like flexible work scheduling, healthcare, 401(k) and career advancement or development opportunities. Nevertheless, offer a good salary, a fair salary, and one that is within their expected range as previously discussed.  The focus should be on the new role and how it will impact the company positively providing the candidate valuable professional development at the same time.

PUT IT IN WRITING

Your verbal job offer should be accompanied by a formal offer letter.  Have your corporate counsel draft one but make sure the letter speaks to your culture and environment in which the candidate will be working.  Include within the formal job offer: documents information about the Features and Benefits that you discussed providing them with something to think about.  The candidate may ask for time to think the offer over, which is fine.  Provide them with a firm time, like 24 to 48 hours, in which to provide a response.  Candidates who are aggressively looking for work are often juggling multiple interviews and salary negotiations with several companies, which is why it’s so important to present your best offer.  The candidate is making an important career decision and will likely need time to weigh the pros and cons between your company and another company.

Preparing for the job offer process – like any sales meeting – involves research, strategy, and preparation long before the job offer is accepted.

Much of this decision to work together is made in the candidate’s impression of the job ad and interview, but the job offer is a tangible affirmation point. The key to having a job candidate accept your job offer is through engagement, conversation, and learning of how the job opportunity can help them obtain their career, personal, and professional goals. Focus on these and you’ll learn how not only how to make a job offer, but how to have a candidate accept your job offer.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a HR consultant, new media strategist, and author who writes at Blogging4Jobs. Jessica is the host of Job Search Secrets, an internet television show for job seekers.

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