How to make a job offer

Checks before you pick up the phone

Get the offer approved inside the company first. Confirm the pay sits within the approved range for the requisition and compare it with people already in the same grade. An offer far above current employees creates a problem you will hear about within months. Agree the latest acceptable joining date with the hiring manager, and decide which conditions apply, such as background verification or submitting relieving letters. Only then call the candidate, so you never have to take back something you said.

The offer call

Call before you email. A call lets you hear hesitation and deal with it while it is small. Congratulate the candidate, confirm the designation and location, state the annual CTC and the monthly gross, give an honest estimate of in-hand pay after PF and professional tax, and propose the joining date. Then stop talking and listen. Ask directly: is there anything that would stop you from accepting? If the answer is a counter-offer or another offer, you want to know today, not on the joining date.

What the written offer should state

Send the written offer within a day of the call, with the same numbers you said aloud. Show the CTC as an annual breakup and a monthly figure. A candidate told 'six lakh' who sees a monthly credit of about ₹44,000 feels cheated unless the letter explains the gap. The appointment letter follows at joining; every employee must be issued one, so plan for both documents.

• Designation, grade, department and work location
• Reporting manager's designation
• Annual CTC with a component-wise breakup, and the monthly gross
• Joining date and the acceptance deadline
• Probation period and notice period
• Conditions: documents to submit, background verification, relieving letter from the last employer
• Working hours, weekly off and work model
• Name and contact of the HR person handling the joining

From acceptance to joining

Acceptance is not joining. In the weeks of notice period, the candidate is open to counter-offers and calls from other recruiters. Stay in touch: a call from the hiring manager in the first week, pre-joining paperwork in the second, an invitation to meet the team before the last working day, and the first-day plan a week before joining. A candidate who already feels part of the team is much harder to pull back.

Step by step

1. Get the offer approved internally. Confirm pay against the approved range and internal parity, agree the joining window with the hiring manager, and list the conditions that apply to this offer.
2. Make the offer call. State designation, CTC, monthly gross, approximate in-hand pay and joining date. Ask whether anything would stop the candidate from accepting, and note any concerns.
3. Send the written offer within a day. Put exactly what you said in writing, with the CTC breakup and conditions. In ZeniaHR, send the offer from Recruitment Hub and the candidate accepts or declines on an online page.
4. Set a clear acceptance deadline. Give three to five working days to accept. Longer deadlines usually mean the candidate is waiting on another offer, and you lose time on your backup candidates.
5. Handle negotiation within fixed limits. Know your ceiling before the call. If the candidate negotiates, trade on joining date, joining bonus or first-year review rather than breaking the grade's pay range.
6. Confirm acceptance and the joining date. Once accepted, confirm the joining date in writing along with the documents to bring and the first-day reporting time and place.
7. Move the candidate into onboarding. Start pre-joining work straight away. In ZeniaHR, move the selected candidate from Recruitment Hub into onboarding, where the joining steps and HR approval of the new record follow.
8. Issue the appointment letter at joining. On or before the first day, issue the appointment letter with the full terms of employment and keep a signed copy in the employee's file.

Frequently asked questions