I realized today I hadn't completed the Making Jobs Attractive series, so here's the final installment.

Even a candidate who's accepted an offer is not an employee. That person is still a candidate, until he or she arrives at work that first day and signs all the paperwork. So make sure you stay in touch with the candidate from the time the candidate accepts your offer until the candidate starts work the first day.

The time between offer and first day can still be a time of investigation for the candidate--one reason I like to have a short time between the offer and the first day. The longer the time between offer and first day, the less likely the candidate will actually start.

Make sure the candidate's office space is ready for a first day. When you make the space ready, you can invite the candidate to come in, look around, see the space. People can visualize themselves working in that space. (I have a whole chapter in Hiring the Best ...--that's how important I think it is.

Consider assigning a buddy to the new employee, to ease the transition. An article I wrote a while ago is How2 Create a Buddy (Informal Mentoring) Program.

If you consistently perform all of these pieces, you will be making your jobs as attractive as they can be.

Labels: attractive job, first day

posted by Johanna Rothman at at 10:46 AM | link |