Wrap Up the Hiring Process with the Ideal Job Offer Email

If you’ve come across the perfect candidate in the hiring process, you’d want to offer them employment without delay! However, despite enthusiasm from both you and the candidate, sending a job offer email is a crucial step to sealing the deal. 

Employment offer emails need to include a lot of information, so knowing how to write a job offer letter correctly is an important skill. We will discuss the details of writing employment offers, including offer letter email templates!

🖋 Write a clear subject line

Candidates who are looking for work will be checking their emails constantly, so make sure that your subject line is clear, to the point and stands out. 

Including non-ambiguous phrases such as “contingent job offer” or “employment offer” will ensure that your candidate responds promptly. 

Likewise, if you didn’t first provide a verbal job offer over the phone, the candidate will not be aware that you intend to hire them. Therefore, a clear subject line indicating it is an offer of employment will grab the candidates attention.

🖋 Compose an informative email body

Although job postings include detailed information about the role, employment offers need to confirm exact details about compensation, onboarding and starting dates. 

Job offer letters are the last step in the hiring process before onboarding, so your job offer email should provide detailed information about the next steps, such as:

🖋 Finer details about the job 

Job offer letters will include specifics which are not outlined in job postings or discussed in job interviews. These details could also be discussed through a verbal offer; however outlining them again in your job offer email will make sure you and your new employee are on the same page. 

🖋 Clear legally binding details

Unlike the interview invitation, employment offers need to discuss legally binding details that protect both the company and the employee. 

Employment offers should include the expected start date as well as an expiry date for the offer, if the employee does not reply. 

Attach the employment contract, company policies, insurance and tax details to the job offer email so your new hire can read through or fill them in before starting their new position. This will save time off of the first few days of employment, where you can focus on training instead!

🖋 Sign off your email professionally

Make sure you sign off the job offer email with your full name, position and company email signature at the end of the email so the candidate knows it’s legitimate. If the hiring process was long, it's good to remind them of your name and title so there is more context to the job offer email. 

Job offer emails include a lot more than the job posting and job interviews, so knowing how to write a job offer letter can be overwhelming. Finalizing an employment offer is an exciting and stressful time for both you and the candidate, so writing a good job offer email can reduce any confusion and generate excitement for both of you! 

💡 Make a verbal offer first.

Although job hunters will regularly check their emails, contacting them by phone first for a verbal offer can allow you to extend a job offer to the candidate in a more personal manner. 

Discussing details of the position over the phone in a verbal job offer can also open up the conversation so the candidate can ask questions right away, and any questions can be resolved or confirmed in the job offer email.

💡 Make sure all legal details are clear.

Make sure the pay rates, tax information, employment contract and security checks are all correct and up to date in the employment offer. These are the details which a candidate will use to decide between employment offers, so having clear and up-front information will avoid delay. 

This will make sure that you offer employment on the correct terms, and will prevent any hassle later if information is incorrect. 

💡 Write an email that matches the candidates’ personality.

Being personable is a big part of the hiring process, and connecting with the candidate can help you extend a job offer smoothly. Without being too informal, match your candidate's personality in the job offer email to show that you are excited to have them as a part of your team. This will make them feel excited and at ease to receive a job offer letter from you!

💡 Start with a cheerful opening line.

In the same way matching the candidate's personality allows you to connect with them, starting the job offer email with a warm opening line can make them feel welcomed. Emails often preview the first line of the email body in the inbox, so use that valuable space to make it clear you would like to extend an offer to them. 

If you did not provide a verbal job offer, it can be hard to convey your tone. Show your enthusiasm for having them in your team by using positive language and punctuation in your offer letter email.

💡 Send legal documents in PDF.

Any attachments sent in the job offer email should be in PDF form, so that they cannot be edited by the candidate. There are many ways to make fillable PDFs which allow employees to only fill in required information. This also speeds up the process as the employees can send back the information quicker.

Now that we’ve sorted the basics of a job offer email, here are job offer email templates which you can use to extend offers to your chosen candidates. 

💼 Official Job Offer Email Template

💼 Informal Job Offer Email Template

--- Originally written by Bronte McNamara ---