Most hires are lost at the offer, not the interview

A candidate who interviewed well can still decline. Sitting with two options, most people are looking for one thing: confidence that the move is worth the risk.

That confidence comes from specifics — what the first ninety days look like, who they'll report to, how pay and progression are decided. Handling the offer conversation carefully is not a formality; it is the step that protects everything spent upstream.

Preparing for it means raising compensation expectations at the start of the search, not discovering them at the end.