5 Steps to Take After a Candidate Accepts Your Job Offer

It’s been a long hiring process, but it finally happened – you found the right candidate who meets your criteria, and they accepted the job offer! 

Receiving a job acceptance letter is great news, but your work isn’t over yet. The candidate must stay engaged and happy with their decision until their first day of work and beyond. As a recruiter or hiring manager, being prepared for what comes next after a candidate accepts your job offer can make all the difference. 

Curious how to keep candidates engaged after the offer? Here’s what to do:

1. Thank the Candidate

The first thing to do after a candidate accepts your job offer is to respond enthusiastically and say thank you. This will both confirm their acceptance and demonstrate your appreciation for the candidate’s decision to join your team. 

Most hiring managers send their thank you messages via email or recruitment platforms. This maintains a paper trail of information that both you and the candidate can always refer back to. You could also consider sending formal letters, orientation packages, and company swag to officially welcome new hires into the organization. 

Your thank you email can also provide additional information that wasn’t in the offer letter. This may include:

• Important contact names, such as direct supervisors and HR personnel
• The next steps in the onboarding process
• Start date
• Available resources
• A personal thank you message from a member of the leadership team
   

2. Inform Your Other Applicants

After your top candidate accepts your offer, you may be tempted to abandon your other applicants. However, this can damage your employer brand and discourage other qualified candidates from reapplying. So, you should take the time to inform the other applicants that you’ve gone in another direction, especially if you interviewed them or asked them to perform additional steps. 

The best rejection emails are short, sincere, and grateful for the applicant’s time. Consider mentioning other open positions or invite them to check with your company again in the future, especially if you were genuinely impressed with their qualifications. 

Some recruiters prefer to send rejection emails earlier in the process, such as after narrowing down their top applicants. However, if there’s any chance you may hire runners-up, this can be risky if your top candidate says no. To avoid sending an offer to a candidate you’ve already rejected, wait until the job offer has been officially accepted before sending that rejection email. 

3. Start the Onboarding Process

The onboarding process can get lengthy, depending on your type of business. Background checks, verifications, and other time-consuming steps can potentially set your candidate’s start date back. So, it’s better to begin the process as early as possible. 

Get in touch with HR, administration, IT, and other relevant departments that will help onboard your new employee. You may have to wait for your employee’s first working day to begin certain onboarding steps, such as training. However, you can usually complete most of the onboarding process as soon as the employee accepts the job.

Here are a couple of onboarding tasks that need to be checked off your list:

• Perform a background check and drug test
• Prepare the employee’s tax forms, direct deposit, and payment information
• Prepare contracts, emergency contact forms, and other paperwork
• Submit state verification or certification paperwork
• Set up the employee’s company email
• Create an account for your employee in your company’s software
• Locate a workspace for in-office positions
   

4. Communicate With Your Soon-to-Be Employee

Studies show that nearly 25% of candidates have declined a job offer after accepting it verbally. While backing out may not directly affect these candidates, it can cost your business time and money, especially if your other applicants have already moved on. 

Hiring managers can implement various candidate engagement strategies to maintain candidates’ interest during onboarding. For example, you can send emails introducing your upcoming employee to the company and job. While your first email covers the basics, this set of emails can discuss the next steps in the onboarding process in detail and what to expect on their first day.

You can also use this time to get to know your candidate better. Perhaps you already have some insight into their background, but you can always delve further to learn more about their personality and culture add and fit within your organization. Engaging with your new hire virtually or in person over lunch to discover their interests or preferences may prove beneficial down the line.

Maintaining regular contact with your candidate is especially important if the job start date is more than a week away. Candidates may receive other opportunities or experience life changes that can prompt them to decline your job offer after accepting it. However, you can prevent this from happening by getting them invested in your company culture. 

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5. Plan a Great First Day and First Week

The first few days on the job are often the most crucial for employee retention and engagement. Though you’ve already introduced your company, candidates can only form an impression of the job on their first day. Implementing onboarding and employee engagement best practices can help start them out on the right foot. 

Check with your HR team, supervisors, and all necessary departments before the new hire’s first day. Double-check the paperwork, work out any necessary changes, and ensure everyone knows the new employee’s name. This helps your candidate feel more welcome and establish a positive impression of the job. 

Next, write an itinerary for your new hire’s first day and week. While you shouldn’t overload their schedule, a great first day should cover all the essentials that will effectively introduce them to their new work environment. Next, consider adding the following agenda items to your candidate’s first week:

• Orientation 
• Department introductions
• Training
• Shadowing opportunities
• Scheduled breaks
   

Next Steps After a Candidate Accepts Your Job Offer

A lot can happen from the time a candidate accepts a job offer until their first day on the job. Recruiters and hiring managers should implement best practices to keep candidates engaged, prepare their team for the new employees, and ensure everyone is set up for success.

Visit iHire’s Employer Resource Center to explore more hiring, retention, and engagement strategies.