In India a candidate who accepts your offer may not join for one to three months, because they must serve a notice period with their current employer. Plan the hire backwards from the date you need the person working, and the wait stops being a surprise.
How notice periods work
The notice period is written in the employment contract. Thirty days is common in smaller companies and junior roles. Sixty and ninety days are common in large IT services firms and for senior positions. Some employers allow a buyout, where the employee or the new employer pays salary for the unserved days in return for an early release. Others insist on the full period. Ask every candidate two things in the first call: what their contract says, and whether their employer has released people early before.
Plan backwards from the start date
Add your own process time to the notice period. If sourcing and interviews take you five weeks and your chosen candidate has ninety days of notice, the seat is empty for about four months. A role that must be filled by a certain date has to be opened that much earlier. If you cannot wait, say so in the brief and restrict the search to people who can join within thirty days or who are already serving notice.
The trade-off with immediate joiners
Candidates who can join at once are attractive, and many are good. The pool is smaller, though, and a candidate who is serving notice with one offer in hand often keeps interviewing for a better one. If you shortlist only on availability, you are choosing from the people who happen to be free, and they may or may not fit the role.
Keeping the candidate during the wait
A long notice period gives the current employer and other companies time to make a better offer. This is the gap in which accepted candidates drop out. A few habits reduce the risk:
- Send the written offer quickly and ask for a copy of the resignation acceptance email.
- Have the hiring manager call every two weeks, with some news about the work each time.
- Invite the person to a team meeting or lunch before they join.
- Send the document checklist and the first-week plan early.
- Ask directly whether the current employer has made a counter-offer, and talk about it calmly if so.
For your next open role, write three dates on the brief: when you need the person working, the longest notice period you can accept, and the date by which the offer must go out to make that possible.