The longer a candidate thinks, the less likely they are to accept an offer — a study by a recruiting agency showed that 78% of job seekers accept an offer within the first three days.

According to the agency, the probability of receiving a positive response from a candidate drops sharply after just three days of waiting. In their study, ITExpert analyzed responses to 315 offers from Middle-Senior IT professionals, of which 79% were accepted. The sample included: C++, Python, Java, Golang, .NET and other developers, QA, DevOps Engineer, digital marketers and other specialists. Only working days were taken into account.

Key findings from the study:

• The average time to respond to an IT professional’s offer is 3 business days, the median is 2.
• 78% of offers that were accepted received a response within the first three days.
• Positive responses are given faster. The median is 3 days, while for rejections it is 6.
• The main reasons for prolonged reflection: doubts about the terms of the offer, expectation of a counter-offer from the current employer, active interviews at other companies.
• 4% of candidates refuse the offer they initially agreed to.

«If you want to hire a star, a good offer is simply not enough. For example, in the AI/ML market, it’s real headhunting: candidates have not only top skills, but also high expectations. And if such situations are not an exception for you, but a constant strategy, simply „drawing the buns in more detail“ or „adding a beautiful logo to the document“ will not work,» noted CEO and founder ITExpert Stas Shikhov.

To increase the likelihood of a positive response, recruiters advise not to leave the candidate «alone with a PDF document» and to schedule a presentation on the call after sending the offer. It is also worth clarifying whether the candidate has other offers and what is key for him in the choice.

«If the response is delayed, don’t pressurize, but don’t disappear either. Offer to contact them in 2–3 days,» ITExpert advises.

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