In most instances, the verbal job offer is just what it says it is: verbally extending an offer of employment to a job applicant. Seems simple enough, right? Wrong. Well, not wrong; but there is more nuance to it. Let's look at how to extend verbal offers that will encourage candidates to accept the formal written job offers, stay legally compliant, and reduce churn. And if you're looking for a way to simplify your applicant tracking process for future hires, request a demo of Eddy today to see how we can help you love your job even more.

Verbal job offers are usually more informal and not legally binding (we will cover instances where the verbal job offer may be legally binding later), whereas written job offers are usually the more formal and binding form of offering a job. Take a moment to note that a verbal job offer does not replace a written job offer, a verbal job offer is a precursor to the written offer. The verbal job offer will help you hire individuals into your organization that have a clearer understanding of what will be expected of them.

Extending a verbal job offer before sending a written job offer has several distinct advantages:

When extending a verbal job offer, accomplished hiring managers and talent acquisition professionals follow a structured and strategic process. You’ll see that these professionals use this opportunity for more than crossing T’s and dotting I’s; they use this as an opportunity to build buy-in from the candidate and ensure that their candidate will accept the offer and start with the organization.

Preparing for every single verbal offer you deliver will help you make sure you are setting clear expectations, building buy-in, and selling your candidate on the role you are offering them. Other things to consider in your preparation: Understand if the verbal offer is conditional or unconditional. Many companies extend conditional job offers that require the candidate to complete some type of pre-employment screening before moving forward with the offer, i.e. drug screening, reference checks, or criminal background checks. If your offer is conditional, be clear about what the conditions are. Determine who will extend the job offer. Most authorities strongly encourage the hiring manager to be the person who issues the verbal job offer. The hiring manager will be the more permanent connection within the organization and usually the person that this new hire will report to. However, you’ll find that often HR or the recruiting team issues the verbal job offer because they have more experience in having offer conversations that yield positive outcomes. Who extends the verbal job offer is not as important as following a consistent process. If your organization wants hiring managers to extend the job offer, make sure that the hiring manager has time to speak with the recruiter so they can be debriefed on what is important to the candidate, what selling points to cover, whether it is conditional or unconditional, and other details. Here are the common steps to extending a verbal job offer.

The verbal job offer is the less formal part of the offer process, so let the conversation feel genuine and casual. Get the candidate to speak candidly about why they want this opportunity, what their salary expectations are, what kind of benefits they are looking for, what they understand the job responsibilities to be, how they view the role, etc.

At this point in the process, you and the leadership team have already decided that you want to hire this candidate, but the candidate may still be on the fence, may still be interviewing elsewhere, and may have other offers on the table. Have an open, transparent, and honest conversation about where the candidate is in their job search and how they are feeling about your company/position. There is a sales element to closing a candidate. When extending a verbal job offer, you will review the basics of the job, like pay, start date and schedule, but you can also use this as a time to further solidify the candidate’s commitment to this role.

One of the major benefits of issuing a verbal job offer and having an offer conversation is the chance to really pick the mind of the job candidate. If they say yes but it doesn’t sound enthusiastic, bring that up. Use this as a time to overcome concerns, answer questions, and move past hurdles. The verbal job offer should end in a candidate enthusiastically responding that they accept. This step goes further than closing the candidate. Closing the candidate is important, but sometimes candidates will accept a verbal job offer because they don’t feel comfortable saying no. This step will help you differentiate the committed candidate from the candidate who says yes but still fully plans on continuing to interview with other companies. If you do not get an enthusiastic acceptance from the candidate, you are not obligated to move forward. One of the simplest ways to handle this situation is to skip right to Step 5 and give them a call to action. It is ok to put the ball in their court, allow them time to think, and set a time to check back in with them.

To get a candidate to the point of a verbal offer, you or your hiring team has decided that this candidate is the best fit for the role, and often they will be top talent. Don’t be surprised or put off when they try to negotiate; instead, think of it as validation that you correctly identified a top-performing and ambitious candidate. Top-performing and ambitious candidates will likely ask for more money, increased benefits, title changes, or certain perks. Be prepared with what you can negotiate and what you can't. Be transparent about what you can't offer, and then explore with them how this opportunity may still be the right move even without being able to negotiate on that item. We live in a time when candidates have almost unlimited amounts of information at their fingertips, so be prepared for them to come to the table with facts and statistics that back up their requests, and be prepared to respond.

As a hiring manager or HR professional, you understand that in a fast-moving labor market, no matter how transparent of a conversation you have, good talent will have other job offers coming along. You want to move the candidate forward to help them start feeling committed and connected. This step is important in reducing the chance that a candidate will accept a verbal offer and then back out later. What the specific call to action is will not be as important as using this step to implement something that gets the candidate moving forward and “feeling” like they are fully committed. Here are a few examples of simple and effective calls to action:

This is a huge life-changing event for the candidate. Treat it as such. Congratulate them on their accomplishment and express your excitement for them to join the team. Your team is looking for top talent; make sure the candidate knows how awesome they are to have made it this far. Again, use this as a chance to make them feel connected to your organization and excited to come to work for you. Now, celebrate yourself for finding and hiring a great candidate!

Often in the world of recruiting, it is common for a hiring manager, HR professional, or talent acquisition professional to view the offer as the finish line. Remember, once a candidate has accepted an offer, that is only the beginning of the new-hire journey. You will want to follow up with every job candidate that you extend a verbal offer to. Sometimes, you will need to follow up with a candidate who has not yet accepted the offer to gauge where they are in their decision-making process and see if they are going to accept. Other times, candidates will gladly accept the verbal offer during that conversation and immediately sign the written offer. Do not make the mistake of thinking you are done. If this truly is the top talent you were looking for, other companies will be actively working to bring this candidate to their organization. When you follow up with a candidate who has accepted an offer, you will be able to answer additional questions, reassure them that they have made a smart choice, and start building a working relationship with them. Following up will help ensure that you will not only extend great verbal job offers, but have those verbal offers convert to new hires.

Here is a (very) generic sample verbal offer script. Hiring Manager: “Hello, _______, how are you?” (Candidate response) Hiring Manager: “I wanted to follow up on the interview you had with [insert specific interviewer or interviewers]. Do you have a few minutes to talk?” (Candidate response) Hiring Manager: “Before I go over the feedback I received, I wanted to get an idea of what your impression was. How did the interview go?” (Candidate response) Hiring Manager: “Do you think [interviewer or interiewers] is(are) someone you can see yourself working with?” (Candidate response) Hiring Manager: “Do you feel like all of your questions were answered?” (Candidate Response) “Hiring Manager: “Do you have any lingering questions that I can help answer?” (Candidate response) Hiring Manager: “Based on that interview and the interviews you have had up to this point, do you feel like you have received a clear understanding of what this role would be, and if so, how would you put that in your own words?” (Candidate response) Hiring Manager: “Is that a role you would still be interested in?” (Candidate Response) Hiring Manager- “What would you rate your interest level in this role, and specifically working with this team?” Hiring Manager: “We got terrific feedback from [specific interviewer or interviewers]. I’m excited to say that they recommended that I extend a verbal offer for our [specific role], and I wanted to see if that is something you were interested in moving forward with. (Candidate response) Hiring Manager: “Is this position something that you are prepared to accept today?” (Candidate response) Hiring Manager: “From here, what I would like to do is go through some of the specific details about the job, and get you moving forward with your next steps. Let's make sure everything matches what we have discussed and what you are expecting. We are offering a starting salary of ___. I will include a detailed breakdown of our benefits in your offer letter, but here are some of the highlights: _____. Your schedule will be ____. Does all that match with what you were expecting? From here there are a few next steps that I will need you to take. Please sign and return the written offer that I will send you today within three business days. All of our offers are contingent on the candidate passing a preliminary drug test and background check, so I need you to fill out the background consent form within 24 hours of signing your written offer. We will send instructions on how to complete the drug test, and that will need to be completed within two business days.”

At some point, you are going to have to cut ties with someone you have initially offered a job to. Verbal job offers can be rescinded. In most cases, rescinding a job offer is not illegal, but understand that rescinding a job offer can open potential legal consequences. To lessen this risk, be sure to follow federal and state laws for equal employment opportunity. Make sure that your process does not discriminate based on protected classes. In at-will employment, make sure your verbal offer is not framed like a contract. Just as the offer process started with a verbal offer, rescinding a job offer should also begin with a verbal conversation. It is a best practice when rescinding a job offer to be brief, direct, and to the point. There is no need to apologize. Express the information with empathy and end the conversation. Here are a few examples of situations where you may have to rescind a job offer:

If the offer is accepted, then begins the onboarding process. Doing everything right and staying compliant through it all can seem overwhelming and discouraging, but that's why Eddy was created. Eddy helps small to medium-sized businesses thrive through simplifying everyday HR responsibilities like applicant tracking, onboarding, payroll, PTO, etc. Request a demo of Eddy today to see how we can help you love your job even more.