A job offer letter, or an employment offer letter, is a document that shows a company’s intent to hire an applicant that fits them best specifying details of the job position.
The letter typically outlines information about the company name, start date, specifics of employment, salary, frequency of payment, amount of work hours an applicant will have, and other noteworthy information regarding the job position in question.
The purposes of a job offer letter are to:
A standard procedure for accepting a job offer letter is signing and returning the document to the sender.
Read further to learn what details to include in a letter and what job offer letter format to use.
When it comes to the tone of the letter, there are no specific rules on how to write a job offer email template. Some companies might like it drier starting with the words:
“We are pleased to offer you a position of [Job Title] at our company. Please take time to carefully read this letter containing the essential details of your employment at our company…”
At the same time, others would prefer to add some personality to the letter, for example:
“You turned out to be our best candidate out of [Number of applicants]. We were sold on your skills, work experience, and outstanding personality…”
Regardless of the tone, a standard job offer letter usually includes the following information.
Step 1
First, write down the company name and job title you are offering at the top of the document. Then, congratulate the candidate, for instance, “Dear Jennifer Smith.”
Step 2
Write down the purpose of the job offer letter. Emphasize that the candidate should read the letter carefully as it includes necessary information about their employment.
Step 3
Name the job title your company is offering once again. Mention how many hours a working day or shift lasts (full-time or part-time) and what schedule is offered (how many hours a week a person should work). Specify who will be the person’s supervisor or manager. Note the start date and workplace location.
Step 4
Then, write down the pay rate a prospective employee will be getting. It might be a monthly dollar amount or an annual salary that is paid at a certain frequency. Also, note the date when the worker will be paid their salary or wages.
Step 5
As the next paragraph of a job offer letter, include any benefits or bonuses a prospective employee will be getting at their position. The paragraph might tell about compensation rules, bonuses, etc. It is here where you can also describe the benefits that the worker will get such as health insurance and others.
Step 6
The last paragraph should be the day when the offer expires. Finish the document with the company name and leave space for the applicant’s signature and date.
End the letter with your name and your job title at the company.
Sometimes, a company might be ready to make an offer, but they want to be 100% confident about their choice and invite the candidate for the discussion of the package the company offers before they take a new employee on board. Then, they might decide to send a warming-up job offer email to a prospective employer instead of a formal job offer letter. It is usually shorter and includes an invitation to a meeting to discuss important details regarding a job position. It typically notifies the candidate of the fact that they are the best fit for the position and that the prospective employer, along with the hiring manager, looks forward to seeing them at a certain time to review the details of the job. Usually, such letters are sent via email.
Writing a job offer letter can be a somewhat strenuous task as you need to carefully choose wordings and include the information about the work position accurately. If you need to get a good job offer letter template that will help you save time and effort, use one provided on our website. It is free and easy to download.
There are some additional things to consider in job offers before sending them to prospective employees.
Have you included your logo in a job offer template?
It might sound like something minor, but adding your company’s official logo with the company name in your job offer letter sample will help you show authenticity and encourage the candidate to take the letter with the job offer seriously.
Are future agreements specified?
Along with overall details about the workplace, an employment offer letter might specify conditions that the prospective employee is expected to meet after they are hired. For instance, such conditions might include drug screening, background checks, signing non-compete agreements, NDA, etc.
Is there an at-will status?
An employer should state in the offer letter that the candidate is about to be hired on an at-will basis, and the employment relationship can be terminated at any time for any reason by either of the parties. It applies to all states except for Montana.
Will an employee be eligible for overtime?
A letter with a job offer should also specify whether the candidate will be an exempt or non-exempt worker. In the first case, a worker is not eligible for overtime which most often applies to employees getting a salary; in the second case, it is the opposite.
A typical job offer template includes the candidate’s job title, type of employment (full-time or part-time), salary or wages, bonuses and benefits program, start date and workplace location, working schedule, payment periods, a supervising person, and expiration date of the offer.
It might be, depending on the employer’s wish. If they decide to make it legally binding, a job offer letter gets the legal force at the moment when a prospective worker signs the document. It means that the parties who have signed it have reached the agreement and are expected to fulfill their obligations under the document.
Some employees would not want to make the letter legally binding which is why they might include at the end of it a brief disclaimer explaining that the letter is for informational purposes only and is not a legally binding contract.
In any case, it is wise to use legal advice before crafting and sending a job offer letter to a prospective employee in order to avoid accidental use of language with contractual implications if they don’t want to make the letter binding.
Yes, it is possible. A hiring company can take back the job offer even after an employee’s acceptance of it. Moreover, an employer does not have to tell why they decided to do so.
These two documents are not the same. The purpose of a job offer letter is to make a formal offer to an applicant telling them that they are chosen for the job title and describing the details of the position – part-time/full-time employment, start date, salary, working hours, etc. A work contract has a different purpose, which is describing all the responsibilities of a prospective worker and the duration of the employment. The other distinguishing thing is that an official employment contract is usually signed after signing an employment letter by an applicant.
Various job offer templates can be easily found on the net. But if you want to use a quality job offer letter sample, the job offer letter example provided on this webpage will give you an idea of how it should look like. Or, if you want to get a customized letter that looks professional and includes all of the details that should be mentioned, use our online document builder.