Don’t get too shocked if you receive a job offer over a phone without any prior communication. Generally, it’s common to get confused about how hiring recruiters are extracting your phone no., even when you haven’t applied for any job.
Gone are the days when an employer used to hire a new employee with some common connections. Nowadays, the hiring process has become a crucial part of the industry. The competition is increasing, and every company wants the best employee.
Getting a call from the hiring recruiters for a job has become common. Most hiring recruiters go through several resumes and shortlist the resume from different job panels like Naukri.com and LinkedIn, where you might have uploaded your resume or education and employment history.
So, take a deep breath, and greet them politely, professionally, and with respect when you get a call from a hiring recruiter at an unexpected time. Don’t forget that your positive impact will help you in the future, whether you want to accept or reject this offer. This article will discuss more how you should talk to the recruiter. We will also guide you to understand how to accept or reject the offer politely.
What Important Things Should You Ask Over The Phone Conversation?
Whenever you get a call from the hiring recruiter, your first step should be to greet them politely instead of just hanging up the phone. After this, the hiring recruiter will introduce themselves and tell you about the company’s aim and vision and the job positions they offer.
It will be entirely your choice if you want to accept the job offer or you want to decline the job offer. But before coming to this, you should always thank the recruiter for considering your profile.
After that, you can initiate your conversation by asking a few questions (if you have any). For example, the questions can be related to the job location, working days, company culture, job description, etc. You can openly ask them every question that is striking in your head.
Now it can be challenging for a few people to give their final decision to the hiring recruiters instantly. So, in such conditions, you can request them to give you some time to finalize your thoughts. Don’t worry; the hiring recruiter completely understands the situation because they face this regularly and expect the candidate to make up their mind first and make their final decision.
So be frank and put your questions to the recruiter. Make sure you always create a positive impact and don’t use harsh tones even if you don’t want any job from them.
What To Say If You Want To Accept The Job Offer?
After listening to their job description and every other detail about the company, if you like the job, then you should accept the job offer. But before coming to a conclusion and instantly saying yes to the job offer, you should always ask a few questions to the recruiter.
Ask Questions
You should always put some questions in front of your recruiter like the starting date, working hours/days, flexible job, dress code, and the extra benefits. It is also essential to mention who your manager will be, the working strategy/workload, etc.
In almost all cases, the recruiter also asks you about your expected salary. In such a situation, always quote a range, e.g., Say 60,000-70,000 instead of 60,000.
You should never initiate your salary expectation; instead, wait for the recruiter to come up with a topic. If the recruiter doesn’t mention salary until the end of the conversation, then the second point will come to your rescue.
The Written Job Offer
Accepting a job offer over a phone has become very common nowadays, but you cannot consider this an “official offer.” So whenever you want to accept the offer, request the recruiter to send a valid email and a contract to make it official.
This offer or contract will have all the details and answers to your question. You can also get to know other information like the notice period, salary breakdown, etc.
Example: This sounds perfectly fine to me. Before accepting the offer, please send me a written offer or the contract paper so I can analyze all the details?
Note:
Don’t worry, all the companies communicate with their employees through the mail. Both parties always need to sign the contract papers before they hire an employee or before you go for any employment in association with the company.
They will be happy to assist you throughout the process and mention all the details in the mail while also attaching the contract paper. Always ensure you read all the information in the contract paper line by line before signing the contract.
Clear Your Doubts
Most companies don’t generally hire new employees, just in the recruiting round. So before ending the call, ask the recruiter about what will be the next step or what you can expect in a few upcoming days. There are several screening procedures, the first one being the HR round.
Therefore, don’t be too excited or make your hopes too high! Before hanging up the phone, ask them for their mail ID (as you requested for a written job offer/details). Never forget to thank the recruiter at the end of the call.
Also Read: How to Respond to an Interview Request? Best Way With Samples
What to Do if You Don’t Receive an Email in 2 Business Days?
As mentioned earlier, you should always ask HR email ID so that you can initiate the conversation in the future. If you asked for the mail ID, simply send a follow-up mail. An example of a mail is given below.
Dear Mr.Josh
I am writing this follow-up mail to request you regarding a written contract paper or job offer. We had a conversation last Thursday, and it’s been more than two days since I’ve heard from you. Please update me regarding the request so I can understand the job offer well.
Thank you for considering my profile for this job role. I hope you will send the contract paper soon.
I’m looking forward to working with you.
Thanks and regards
XYZ
If you don’t have any mail ID, you can simply call the same number and remind the recruiter about the information you asked for.
What To Say If You Want To Decline The Job Offer?
The recruiter can call anyone and give the job offer to whom they consider is the most suitable one for the job in their company. Most often, these recruiters don’t know that the candidate is already working for a company and is not looking for a job change.
In such a situation, you will simply decline the job offer in the call. But there is a specific way to do so. You should always follow the below-listed points to leave your positive and professional impact on the recruiter’s mind:
- Greet them properly and thank them for considering you for the job position.
- You can give them a simple and correct reason to decline the job offer.
Example: I’m very thankful for the job opportunity, but I’m not considering or looking for a job change right now. I’m sorry!
- Whenever you decline a job offer, give a genuine reason. And if you are not interested in the particular job, you can tell them that you were expecting a better job offer from the company; if not today, then maybe in the future?
- End the call by saying thank you.
What To Say If You Need Time To Think About It?
A few of the candidates are already working in a job position, and they need time to think about whether they should consider this job position or not. In such a situation, you can always ask the employer to give you some time; believe me; they will wait for you.
The hiring recruiters generally understand that your decision is critical to your life and career. So, they always want you to make your final decision instead of going in a rush. But you should keep a few things in mind before requesting the recruiter. These points are listed down below:
- Thank the recruiter for considering your profile.
- Request some time from a recruiter to consider the offer, and ask them to email the details. You can ask them about their expectations of receiving a clear-cut decision from you. (Don’t worry, they always want better employees in their company so that they will respect your request)
- If they don’t give any deadline, then you can give them a proper date or day on which you can get back to them. Ask them if this is acceptable or not?
- Cut the call by saying thank you at the end.
In the meantime, you can simply go through the contract or the job offer; you can also research the company, which will help you to make your final decision.
Note:
If you want to decline the offer, you can simply call them or quickly reply to them in the same mail thread. But we will always recommend contacting them via call because you have received the job offer through the call. It will look much more natural, respectful, and professional.
Bonus Read: Letter to Recruiters and Hiring Managers
How To End The Call?
Whether you consider the job offer or not, always end the call by saying “thank you” to the caller. This is not only ethically good but also professional. It creates a very positive impact on the recruiter’s mind.
There is a high possibility that these recruiters will save your resume in their dataset. They will possibly come back to you again in the future for any open job position in their company. This also helps in creating the network to create better opportunities in the future.
Conclusion
Getting a job opportunity through mail or a phone, or any other way is always exciting. But sometimes, the recruiters put you in certain situations where you cannot make your decision quickly. For example, directly calling you and accepting a clear-cut decision at the right moment.
If you don’t have a job, it would be easy to accept the job opportunity. But a person who is expecting a better job opportunity or currently working in another company always needs time to think about making a final decision. In such a situation, it always becomes hard for them to provide a direct answer.
In this article, we clarify all the questions regarding such situations and what to say to the recruiters so that they understand you very well.
Furthermore, asking the recruiter for some time to make a decision is always the best way to research the companies and their culture. It is a great way to analyze if the job role is a fit for you or not. We hope you will consider these points in an on-call job offer. All the best!