When it comes to competing for talent in a tight labor market, employers who excel at recruiting talent will have an edge.

Those employers with a competitive benefits package and/or a best-in-class benefits package strategically use their benefits package as an invaluable tool to convince candidates they really want to hire them. An employer can also stand out among the competition by offering unique, memorable, demographically-relevant, and out-of-the-box benefits

It’s always a good hiring strategy to use your benefits program during the recruiting process, but you need to be somewhat strategic about when to bring it up during the hiring process. These are a few tips employers and hiring managers should consider when discussing benefits during the hiring process.

Recruitment and Job Posting

If you’re really looking to hire a candidate, there’s nothing wrong with discussing benefits from the very beginning. Interviewing should be a two-way street, of course; you should be comfortable with each candidate’s assessment of you, the employer.

However, in most recruiting situations, there is not one specific person or ideal candidate in mind to fill a position. It is almost impossible for employers to find the perfect candidate for every opening they have. If you are posting a job, you’ll want to entice candidates with a competitive benefits package, but you should not be too explicit for two major reasons.

In the first place, you should ideally strive to be an employer of choice because candidates find your company’s mission inspiring, that your values align with their own, that the work is interesting, and/or they can see a long-term career path and promotion within your company. It is clear that this is superior to attracting someone who is on the prowl for any opportunity that may present itself with great benefits. In the event that you need to sweeten the pot to close the deal, you’ll want to hold something back.

The existence of snowflakes is a myth, right? The Snowflake test, however, comes with a catch. The employees are told that the behavior or mindset an employer is looking for cannot be rewarded.

The snowflake test has how many questions? Can you estimate how long it would take to assess the answers to thirty questions?

Which methods are used to test snowflakes? Kyle S. Reyes created the Snowflake Test when he was a student at Stanford University. The test was specifically designed to help interviewers around the world. An interviewer will be able to detect self-righteous and overconfident candidates through this test.

The Interview

Group of candidates awaiting interviewMost employers have not yet discussed their benefits program in detail at this point in the hiring process. Once the interview process begins, the benefits discussion changes.

Most employers hope to form a solid assessment of the candidate at some point during this stage of the hiring process. Most employers shift their mindset to selling themselves to the recruit at the end of the process if they like them. The best time is when you can tout your employee benefits program, even if a company makes an offer contingent on the results of a background check, drug screening, handwriting analysis, or positive referral feedback. Make it clear that it is not an implied offer of employment.

Don’t assume your candidates will recognize certain aspects of your benefits program as unique or best-in-class. Let them know what makes it different. You should let them know how special it is if you pay 100% of the health insurance premiums. You might offer above-industry-normal PTO, bonuses, retirement matching, dental benefits (such as orthodontia coverage), vision benefits (such as lasik coverage), and so on.

The Job Offer

When your company does not extend job offers at the end of an interview, but instead at a later date, it makes sense to discuss benefits at the time of the job offer. Similarly, we would suggest everything we discussed about how to conduct an interview here.

Your benefits program will likely be better explained in detail during the job offer, leaving enough time for questions. The candidate may respond with a few additional requests, or may reach out later to ask for more information. You have the option to grant, counter, or deny their requests on the spot or after consulting with other decision makers, depending on your level of seniority at the company. Make them sweat (sometimes it’s better to make them sweat it out than to ask for more.)