Recruiting key figure: Offer Acceptance Rate (OAR)

You have found your ideal candidate and can hardly wait for him/her to accept your job offer. It would be a perfect world in which all offers are accepted, but unfortunately this is not the case. For this reason, the Offer Acceptance Rate (OAR) is an important key figure in recruiting. It shows how successful your recruiting team is at converting offers into new colleagues at the end of the application process.

The Offer Acceptance Rate is the ratio between the offers made to candidates and the employment contracts signed: Recruiting KPI

OAR = number of contracts signed / number of job offers submitted

A good Offer Acceptance Rate shows that your recruitment team can effectively convert offers into employment contracts, proactively and intensively managing candidates. This means that your recruiting team is able to work out the priorities, needs and motivators of the candidates. On this basis, the offers are calculated and proactively communicated to the candidates.

How can you as a recruiter improve your offer acceptance rate?

Listen carefully

You conduct the interviews with the candidates and are sure to address the topic of salary packages. This usually takes place during the first (telephone) interview with the candidate. At this stage, recruiters obtain the candidate's general conditions for a move to you so that they can pass this information on directly to the hiring department manager.

Don't just record figures and notice periods. Listen actively and try to find out what would motivate the candidate to start with you by asking specific questions. Make a note of their motivations, as this information is worth its weight in gold during the offer phase. It is often the little things that make the difference and ultimately decide whether your offer is accepted or rejected. Recruiting KPI

Be a team with the hiring manager

The recruitment process tells candidates a lot about your corporate culture. Show that you are a team with the hiring manager and that you are aligned. Pass on all the information you have about the candidates to the relevant manager. Candidates look forward to getting to know their potential future manager. If they then proactively address motivational points in the interview that they have previously told you about, this shows a genuine interest in them as a person and good, harmonised communication within the company.

For some years now, the application process has actually been more of a sales process for companies. Recruiting and the specialist departments present their company to interested candidates and specifically try to attract candidates to the employer. If the candidate only mentions in passing during the first (telephone) interview with Recruiting that they would like to gain certification for XY IT solution next year, for example, the manager should proactively include this information in the interview. Show that you are interested in the candidate and be appreciative.

Candidate Experience

Do not underestimate the gut feeling of candidates. Good candidates are constantly contacted by your competitors. Stand out from the crowd and create an application experience that candidates will tell their friends about. Stick to agreed feedback times, work proactively with candidates. If candidates feel they are in good hands during the application process, your chances as a recruiter of actually winning them over to your company in the end are much higher.

Win the candidate for your company

Don't wait long after the last interview to give the candidate the good news. Give them a call and let them know that the interviews went very well and that you will be making an offer. Even if you have not yet prepared the offer. Recruiting KPI

Once the offer is ready, don't just send it by e-mail. You wouldn't believe how many companies simply send offers by email. This is where employers lose about 30% of their final candidates.

Because no matter how the application process has gone so far, how good the candidate's experience has been - this is not appreciative. Call and arrange an appointment at short notice where you can present the offer to the candidate and answer questions. Follow up on information regarding the candidate's motivation to change jobs that you received at the very beginning of the application process. Show that the candidate is important. Then send the offer by e-mail, with explanations if necessary (additional benefits, answers to questions asked by the candidate in the offer call, any open points that still need to be clarified, etc.).

Closing

As a recruiter, you are in a sales job. So the closing, the offer phase, is also part of your job. Although this is the end of the application process, this is where you can pick up your laurels. Work hand in hand with the candidates, customise the offer where possible and be very active in communicating with the final candidates. Your efforts will be rewarded with a higher OAR.

For reasons of readability, we have only used the masculine form when referring to candidates, managers and recruiters. Of course, all genders are meant (f/m/d).

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