The way in which you reject a job offer matters and can affect your personal brand

If you are in the market for a new role at the moment, you may be feeling fairly confident that the current shortage of talent has created the ideal market conditions for candidates looking to secure significantly higher salaries.

As a recruitment firm working across the UK and globally, we can see a palpable shift in the salary expectations of candidates. What we would previously class as good offers from prospective employers are now being rejected more frequently by some candidates who feel that they can still get more elsewhere. On occasion, no amount of persuasion on our part using current salary data can dissuade them from their actions. This leads to understandable disappointment and frustration on the part of our clients who then feel that our candidates were not serious in the first place.

From the outset, when we qualify candidates and discuss which firms we should represent them to, we give them a very clear understanding of what they may be able to achieve in terms of salary & benefits. If their chosen firms then decide to interview them, they will be doing so on the basis that our candidates have been appropriately briefed. It would then come as a big surprise to the client if they made an offer that we believe is a good and fair offer, to be told by our candidate that they now want more. What has been surprising too is that one or two candidates have then even rejected the added comfort ?of a follow up conversation with the hiring Partner who is keen to give them ?a greater insight into the firm and future progression opportunities. If candidates had really wanted to work with their selected firm that much, they should at least listen to what the firm has to say in support of their offer. Whilst I would stress that these are isolated occurrences, they are certainly less isolated than they were in the past.

If you are offered a job by a firm you have wanted to work for but then reject it, the rationale for the rejection is critical. If a firm feels you have wasted their time, not only will you have burnt your bridges with that firm but you may also find that another employer in your field may also find out and see you as being irresponsible. Contrary to popular belief, competitors in every field of business do mix socially. Of course, there is nothing wrong with rejecting an offer that is too low or unreasonable. In these cases, you should state clearly why you feel that the offer undervalues your skillset and experience. If you are using a recruiter to represent you, they will make sure that your case is put forward in an evidence-based way to maximise the chances of a revised offer being made. By doing this, you place the ball firmly back in the prospective employer’s court and it will then be up to them how they wish to proceed.

However, where the offer is clearly a reasonable one by any yardstick and you still choose to reject it, a little more explanation is required. Perhaps having met those involved with the interview process, you no longer feel the culture is right for you, or perhaps the information you were given about the role was different to what was said at the interview. These reasons are difficult for a firm to come back on or take issue with. If, on the other hand, you simply reject what is palpably a fair offer because you think can get more elsewhere, the firm is likely to view you as a “chancer” who is only driven by short term advantage and was probably not serious when you said you wanted to work there anyway.?Either way, you will have done damage to your own employment brand. In the same way that employers need to be careful how they reject candidates, candidates must recognise that when an employer has decided you are the person they are looking for and you reject them, you must do so for considered reasons that will not make them feel foolish. Selection is as much about emotion as science. Whilst employers are well versed in rejecting candidates, you should be mindful that no one likes to be on the receiving end of rejection and this includes employers. In a selection process, you are an ambassador for yourself. Your personal brand matters!