Offer-to-join is where most hiring plans slip. Here is how to build a timeline that survives contact with reality.
Most hiring plans are written as though the offer is the finish line. In practice, the period between a signed offer and a first working day is where timelines quietly come apart — and notice periods are the single biggest reason.
A 90-day notice period is not just a delay. It is three months in which a counter-offer can land, a competing process can conclude, or a candidate’s circumstances can change entirely.
Plan backwards from the join date
Start with the date the role needs to be productive, then subtract onboarding, notice, offer negotiation, interviews and search. For a senior role with a 60–90 day notice, that usually means beginning the search four to five months out.
Ask about notice in the first conversation
Notice period, buyout options and any garden-leave clause should be captured at screening, not at the offer stage. It changes which shortlist you should be looking at.
Stay in contact through the gap
The strongest predictor of a candidate actually joining is contact during notice. A short check-in every two weeks, an introduction to their future team, and clarity about day one are enough to keep the commitment warm.
We treat the notice period as part of the mandate, not an administrative afterthought — because a placement that does not start is not a placement.
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