Depends somewhat on how long you've been looking to fill the position and the position speciality itself. But my general rule for most software positions is an

Depends somewhat on how long you've been looking to fill the position and the position speciality itself. But my general rule for most software positions is anything over a couple of weeks waiting for a senior candidate to make a decision and I'd tell them we will have to rescind the offer and move on (jr candidates is a week for me generally but there are exceptions). I also offer fair salaries from the start and don't play any games trying to negotiate, if the candidate says they want X more, I'll see if it fits and if so give it to them, if not I won't. I generally don't have that problem often though because I start with a strong offer within our limits. If you know you offered a low salary for the experience candidate then first, shame on you, second fix it and see if that resolves it but be careful not to make it all about money. A fair salary with fair benefits in a good environment will beat a slightly higher salary that has a blah working environment. And senior candidates can tell from interviews which is which. Easiest thing to do is reach out and just ask what is it that is hanging you up on making a decision. Be up front and see what they say, maybe they were waiting for an offer that promised them a magic amount of money, which doesn't even mean it is that different than your offer, but maybe it checks some goal box for them. Or maybe they are waiting to see if a special company accepted them, usually you have to figure that out by reading between the lines as most people won't be direct and say that. Don't do this via email or IM, get the person on the phone or video call and just have a talk. As a counter to my argument, some friends that hire at other companies will not put a defined limit but they make every offer contingent on the position still being open. So essentially if they make you an offer this week and you take 3 weeks to respond they may have filled it and so no longer have a position for you. But they don't push you to make a decision. I don't personally like this method, but it can be efficient.