I am amazed by hiring managers and recruiters who won’t deadline offers and are surprised when the candidate ghosts them for 3 weeks only to take another opportunity. When I ask why they won’t deadline an offer, 99% of the time they respond, “I don’t want to push anyone into coming to work for me.” I am afraid they are missing the point.

25 years or recruiting experience has taught me that candidates do not make their decision at the end of the interview process. They are actively making their decision throughout and the offer is the final step. Putting a deadline of 24 or 48 hours on an offer is not pressuring them come to work for you, but it is making them make a decision. If the candidate presses for more time, they have already given you their answer.

I managed a contingency firm with over 40 recruiters for 19 years, I gathered the data. 87% of the candidates that come back to those hiring managers after 3 weeks, don’t last 12 months in the job. They only came back because they could not find anything better. The 3-week offer was their fallback. They kept looking until they eventually found what they wanted and left.

I realize not wanting to deadline an offer comes from a place of kindness. Those hiring managers are nice people who don’t want to be pushy. But believe me deadlining an offer or asking for an answer, will save a lot of wasted cycles and avoid ending up with employees who really don’t want to be a part of what you are doing.