Closing Candidates: Offers, Negotiation, and Acceptance

Closing Candidates: Offers, Negotiation, and Acceptance

This course is part of Recruiting & Onboarding for Today’s Workforce Specialization

Instructor: Evan Kimbrell

Included with

Learn more

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

Beginner level

Recommended experience

2 weeks to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

Beginner level

Recommended experience

2 weeks to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

Build and communicate competitive offers with clear pay, packaging, and positioning
Handle negotiations, approvals, and global offer workflows with speed and fairness
Create a closing plan that improves acceptance rates and reduces reneges

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

Learn more about Coursera for Business

logos of Petrobras, TATA, Danone, Capgemini, P&G and L'Oreal

Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Recruiting & Onboarding for Today’s Workforce Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

Learn new concepts from industry experts
Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 4 modules in this course

This course will help you build fair, well-positioned offers, communicate compensation with clarity, navigate approvals and global offer logistics, handle negotiations ethically, and run a closing process that improves acceptance rates while reducing delays, drop-offs, and reneges. You will also learn how to think beyond salary alone by packaging total rewards around candidate motivations, setting expectations early, and using practical negotiation levers without creating internal equity risk.

What makes this course unique is that it treats closing as a disciplined business process rather than a last-minute conversation. Instead of focusing only on offers or negotiation in isolation, it shows how offer strategy, pay transparency, approvals, compliance, verbal and written communication, global workflows, contingency planning, and offer funnel metrics all work together. The approach is practical, ethical, and built for real hiring environments where speed, fairness, and candidate trust all matter. Whether you are a hiring manager, recruiter, HR partner, or talent leader, this course will help you close stronger candidates more consistently and with less last-minute chaos.

What's included

3 videos9 readings2 assignments

3 videosTotal 18 minutes

Offer Strategy Starts Before the Offer6 minutes
Packaging Total Rewards (Not Just Salary)6 minutes
Pay Transparency and How to Talk About Compensation6 minutes

9 readingsTotal 190 minutes

Worksheet: Offer Strategy Guardrails Map30 minutes
Pre-Offer Strategy Checklist10 minutes
Exploring pre-offer compensation strategy and salary range design45 minutes
What Actually Counts as “Total Rewards” in Real Offers10 minutes
Case Study: Same Budget, Two Different Candidate Packages15 minutes
Looking closer at total rewards and offer package design30 minutes
12 Strong Answers to Tough Compensation Questions10 minutes
How to Explain Compensation Bands and Leveling in Plain English10 minutes
Making pay transparency clearer: ranges, rationale, and candidate conversations30 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 90 minutes

Pre-Offer Strategy: Structuring a Fair, Competitive Offer60 minutes
Module 1 Knowledge Check30 minutes

What's included

3 videos3 readings2 assignments

3 videosTotal 17 minutes

Approvals and Compliance Without Slowing Everything Down6 minutes
Verbal and Written Offers That Build Confidence6 minutes
Global/Remote Offer Workflows6 minutes

3 readingsTotal 90 minutes

Strengthening your offer approval process and compliance workflow30 minutes
Sharpening your verbal and written offer delivery30 minutes
Navigating global and remote offer workflows with more confidence30 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 90 minutes

Offer Operations in Practice: Approvals, Offer Communication, and Global Workflow Risks60 minutes
Module 2 Knowledge Check30 minutes

What's included

3 videos3 readings2 assignments

3 videosTotal 17 minutes

Negotiation Prep — Before the Candidate Asks5 minutes
Negotiation Levers Beyond Base Pay6 minutes
Ethical Negotiation Tactics and Handling Hard Moments6 minutes

3 readingsTotal 95 minutes

Preparing for offer negotiation before the candidate pushes back30 minutes
Expanding your negotiation toolkit beyond base salary30 minutes
Handling tough negotiation moments with honesty, clarity, and calm35 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 90 minutes

Negotiation Simulation: Balancing Candidate Priorities, Levers, and Ethics60 minutes
Module 3 Knowledge Check30 minutes

What's included

3 videos3 readings2 assignments

3 videosTotal 22 minutes

The Closing Plan — From Offer to Signed6 minutes
Contingencies, Risk Management, and “What If They Say No?”9 minutes
Offer Funnel Metrics and Continuous Improvement7 minutes

3 readingsTotal 105 minutes

Building a stronger offer-to-sign closing plan35 minutes
Managing late-stage hiring risk, contingencies, and backup plans30 minutes
Using offer funnel data to improve your close over time40 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 90 minutes

Closing a Strong Candidate Under Pressure60 minutes
Module 4 Knowledge Check30 minutes

Earn a career certificate

Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.

Instructor

Evan Kimbrell

PracticalGrowth

10 Courses202 learners

Offered by

PracticalGrowth

Explore more from Leadership and Management

PracticalGrowth
Hire faster, hire smarter
Course
PracticalGrowth
Modern Recruiting: Channels, Outreach, Nurture
Course
PracticalGrowth
Picking the Right Candidate: Evidence-Based Selection
Course
PracticalGrowth
From Offer to Impact: Modern Onboarding
Course

Why people choose Coursera for their career

Felipe M.

Learner since 2018

"To be able to take courses at my own pace and rhythm has been an amazing experience. I can learn whenever it fits my schedule and mood."

Jennifer J.

Learner since 2020

"I directly applied the concepts and skills I learned from my courses to an exciting new project at work."

Larry W.

Learner since 2021

"When I need courses on topics that my university doesn't offer, Coursera is one of the best places to go."

Chaitanya A.

"Learning isn't just about being better at your job: it's so much more than that. Coursera allows me to learn without limits."

Open new doors with Coursera Plus

Unlimited access to 10,000+ world-class courses, hands-on projects, and job-ready certificate programs - all included in your subscription

Learn more

Advance your career with an online degree

Earn a degree from world-class universities - 100% online

Explore degrees

Join over 3,400 global companies that choose Coursera for Business

Upskill your employees to excel in the digital economy

Learn more

Frequently asked questions

To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.