A candidate accepts an offer in early March with a start date on the first of May. Everyone is relieved: the client stops interviewing, the recruiter moves on to the next vacancy and the runner-up candidates are thanked and closed. Two weeks before the start date the candidate calls to say that the current employer made a better offer and that they will stay. Nobody had spoken to the candidate for six weeks. The client has to restart the search, the runner-ups have meanwhile found other jobs and the recruiter has no record of when the last real conversation took place. The period between an accepted offer and the first working day is one of the quietest parts of the process, and also one of the riskiest. This article explains why every accepted offer in your Applicant Tracking System needs planned contact moments until the start date: what goes wrong without them, what to record, how to plan the moments, which signals to watch, how it differs per segment and how to check with your own data whether it works.
The question plays a role in every segment. Recruitment agencies often see notice periods of one to three months between the offer and the start. Staffing desks deal with short gaps, but also with workers who receive several offers in the same week. Secondment firms prepare a professional for an assignment that starts weeks later. Executive search firms work with long notice periods and candidates who are actively approached by their current employer. In-house recruitment teams hand a new colleague over to a department that is busy with other work. In every case the question is the same: can you see, for every accepted offer, when the candidate was last spoken to and when the next contact is planned?
What goes wrong without planned contact
- Candidates withdraw shortly before the start because a counter-offer or another employer reached them first
- Doubts about the role, the commute or the contract grow without anyone noticing
- Practical items such as a signed contract, documents or equipment are still missing on the first day
- The client assumes the recruiter keeps in touch, the recruiter assumes the client does, and in the end nobody does
- Runner-up candidates are closed too early, so there is no fallback when a start falls through
The result is late withdrawals, a longer time to fill, frustrated clients and a start that feels improvised for the new employee.
What to record for each accepted offer
Keep the record short and structured, and store it on the candidate’s application for that vacancy rather than in a loose note:
- Acceptance date and start date — when the candidate accepted and the agreed first working day, as confirmed in the confirmed start date
- Notice period — the recorded notice period and when the candidate actually handed in their resignation
- Contact owner — one named person who keeps in touch until the start, in line with the vacancy owner
- Planned contact moments — dates and the purpose of each moment, each with a next action date
- Open items before the start — contract signed, documents received, the right-to-work check done where relevant, first-day details shared
- Outcome of each contact — a short factual note: on track, question raised, risk noticed
How to plan the contact moments
There is no fixed number that fits every situation, so agree a simple pattern per segment and adjust it to the length of the notice period. A practical pattern for a notice period of a month or more is: a call within a few days after the acceptance, a check after the candidate has handed in their resignation, regular short check-ins during the notice period, a call to confirm the first-day details about a week before the start and a message the day before. Use the candidate’s preferred contact channel, and keep each contact useful: share information about the team, answer questions and check that practical items are moving. Ask the client to take part as well, for example with an invitation to meet the team or a welcome message from the hiring manager, and record who does what.
Signals to watch
Most dropouts are announced by small signals. A candidate who has not yet resigned well after the acceptance, who answers more slowly than before, who asks again about salary or conditions, or who mentions that the current employer wants to talk, needs extra attention. Record such signals as facts, not as opinions, and link them to the counter-offer check done at the offer stage. Decide together with the client whether to keep runner-up candidates warm for a little longer, using your talent pool, instead of closing them all on the day the offer is accepted.
Keep it respectful
Planned contact should help the candidate, not pressure them. Keep the moments short, explain why you call and accept that a candidate may decide differently. Record only what is relevant for the start, and do not store personal details that have nothing to do with the job. When a candidate does withdraw, record the reason in a neutral way and inform the client promptly, so a new search or a runner-up can start without delay.
Differences per segment
Agencies with longer notice periods benefit most from a fixed pattern and a clear contact owner, because the placement and the fee depend on an actual start. Staffing desks keep the pattern short and focus on the days before the first shift, alongside the confirmed availability of their workers. Secondment firms combine the contact moments with the preparation of the new assignment, such as an intake with the project lead. Executive search firms plan fewer but more personal moments and pay close attention to approaches from the current employer. In-house teams agree who keeps in touch: the recruiter, the hiring manager or both, so the new colleague is not forgotten between departments.
Let the system help
Much of this is repetitive and suitable for automation: a contact plan that is created automatically when an application moves to accepted, reminders for the contact owner on each planned date, shared message templates for the welcome and first-day messages, and a warning when an accepted offer has had no contact for a set number of days or still has open items shortly before the start. An artificial intelligence assistant can draft a check-in message or summarise earlier notes before a call. The recruiter makes the call and judges the situation; artificial intelligence does not replace recruiters and does not decide whether a start is at risk.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Closing the file at acceptance — the vacancy is treated as finished while the start is still weeks away
- No named owner — client and recruiter both assume the other one keeps in touch
- Only a call the day before — too late to notice doubts or a counter-offer
- Contact without purpose — repeated calls that add nothing and start to feel like pressure
- Runner-ups closed too early — no fallback when the start falls through
Questions teams ask
- How often should we call? — Often enough to notice change, not so often that it becomes pressure; plan more moments for long notice periods and fewer for short ones
- Who should keep in touch, the recruiter or the client? — Both have a role; record one contact owner and add the client’s welcome moments to the same plan
- What if the candidate does not respond? — Try the preferred channel once more, inform the client and record the situation; do not wait until the start date
- When do we close the runner-ups? — Agree this with the client; many teams keep them warm until the candidate has resigned or the start has taken place
- Does this end on the first day? — The contact plan ends at the start; after that the check-ins during the guarantee period take over
Check it with your own data
Count from your own data, per team and per segment: how many accepted offers have no planned contact moments, how many have had no contact for longer than agreed, how many candidates withdrew between acceptance and start and at which point, and how often practical items were still open on the first day. Discuss these numbers in your weekly pipeline review and in the weekly client report where relevant, and name the number of candidates behind each figure. Do not compare with industry averages; your own trend is the number that matters.
A practical start
- List all accepted offers whose start date is still in the future and name a contact owner for each
- Agree a simple contact pattern per segment and plan the moments as dated actions
- Record the open items before the start and check them during each contact
- Record signals and outcomes as short facts, and inform the client when a risk appears
- Agree with the client when runner-up candidates are closed
A placement is only real on the first day
An accepted offer is a promise, not yet a start. Plan contact until the first working day, record what happens and act early when something changes. Explore the product or book a demo — we will show how applications, candidate records and planned actions work together in BoldATS for your segment.