Once you've interviewed job candidates and determined the ones that will be a good fit for your organization, the next step is to send them professional and motivating offer letters. The way you phrase your letter could affect whether they accept the position, especially if they are entertaining other prospects.

Offer letters also need to contain certain wording to keep your company out of a legal lurch if the candidate doesn't work out in the end. Some of the things you need to include are:

1. An overview of what the employee's job duties will be, along with the caveat "plus others as assigned;"

2. A statement of what the person's salary will be at the time hired and the grounds for a pay increase;

3. Information on the benefits package, which can be enclosed on a separate sheet of paper.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

View sample job offer letters to get an idea of the format

Making your offer letters look professional is of paramount importance. First of all, it encourages your potential new hire to actually read the letter and respond. Secondly, if you take the time to format one letter well, you can use it as a template for future offer letters.

I recommend: Go to Govdelivery's HR Document Center and look at the two offer letter samples it provides. One is for an hourly position and one for a salaried job. Then check out the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries' page for an additional sample. Feel free to pick and choose pieces from each sample to make the offer letter uniquely your own.

Learn to avoid putting questionable language in your offer letters

Offer letters, for beginners, should be very straightforward and simple. If you get too flowery and too complicated you may end up inadvertently putting yourself in a harrowing legal position. Although one would hope that all of your new hires will stay with the company for years to come, this is not always the case. Don't give them any loopholes in the offer letter that could lead them to sue for wrongful termination.

I recommend: Go to the Business Owner's Toolkit and read the article, "Avoiding Unintended Hiring Contracts." It will teach you how to prevent putting too many promises in the offer letter, such as a guaranteed length of employment. Then visit Personnel Policy Service's page on offer letter language. It further explains how to stay out of a legal bind by using the right wording.

Anticipate how recipients will respond to your offer letters

Before you send out your offer letters, you need to anticipate three responses: a yes, a no and a counter offer. Always put conditions in your letter that could bar a person from hire even if he or she accepts the offer, such as passing a credit check or a drug test, if they're required by your company. It can hurt morale to add these provisions later. Also, prepare for a possible salary negotiation if your receive a counter offer letter in response.

I recommend: View the offer letter on the Employment Law Information Network's website to learn how to add conditions to the offer of employment, if needed. Then go to the Smart Institute's Smart Entrepreneur site and read the article on salary negotiation.

Sent out to candidates you wish to hire, offer letters are an invaluable item. Oftentimes, the letters are a mere formality that put the agreed-upon terms of the job, which can include salary, start date, title, moving expenses and signing bonuses, in writing.

Generally the candidates have already agreed upon these conditions when you draft the offer letters. Serving as a written account of a verbal agreement, offer letters can eliminate confusion and clarify details. But how do you know what style or format to use? Take these steps into consideration when writing your offer letters:

1. Purchase forms on an offer letters website to assist you.

2. Cut costs, and learn how to perfect the forms from offer letters experts.

3. Use a professional organization to write offer letters for you.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Buy your job offer forms from an offer letters site

If you write many offer letters, it's best to use a template for your offer letters and go off that. But what happens if you don't have a template? There are plenty of options available online.

I recommend: One offer letters website to use is FindLegalForms. Once you select the state your business is located in, you're directed to a page where you can purchase the offer letters template. After you set up an account with HR.BLR.com, you can download several offer letters, including one for salaried office workers. Profiling its three offer letter software packages, WriteExpress lists what's included in each package, ensuring you can find what your business needs.

Find free forms from an offer letters web site

You don't need to buy offer letters if your company is searching for ways to cut costs. Since all you need to provide are a few vital facts, check out some of the many links online where you can download a sample offer letter for free. Don't forget to tweak it to your company's specifications, however; some sites require that you change much of the information per copyright laws.

I recommend: Inc.com provides a free download to its business cover letter. All you need to do is first register with the company. Microsoft even owns a basic job offer template for you to use.

Trust established companies to help you write offer letters for your business

Those companies that provide assistance in human resources can offer some of the most superior offer letters advice. If you can afford it, hiring outside companies to write such letters to provide any sort of offer letters information necessary can be a load off your mind.

I recommend: Hewitt Associates provides human resource outsourcing, including assistance in writing offer letters. Ranging in all kinds of letter writing, including business letters, WordsRU provides writers, editors and proofreaders to help construct and compose your offer letters. Get a free quote online.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you're hiring people for nonexempt positions, make sure you include information about overtime in the offer letters. This can prevent confusion later on, since both parties should have copies of the offer letters.

I'm the 'Dear Abby' of job seekers - at least for my friends and family. You see, because I'm in the business, they like to call me with questions about finding a new job, interviewing, writing resumes, working through the processes and everything in between. I don't mind. I'm all too willing to give you my opinion about anything at any time (which can be a blessing or a curse!)

So it wasn't unusual that a few weeks ago I was coaching my best friend (since fourth grade, no less!) Maureen, who is a talented special needs educator. She was going through the process of landing a pretty exciting new job in a new school district. Everything seemed to be on track. All meetings had gone very well and a verbal offer had been extended. She was thrilled.

I was really surprised when I got a call from her last week telling me that she had turned down the offer that she was on track to accept. It was when Maureen got the offer letter that severe disappointment set in. 'I don't understand it,' she told me. 'It has no wording about what I will be doing, or the programs we had discussed or even my areas of responsibility. And, it was for the same pay I'm making now. I'm really disappointed. It's just flat.' That lifeless letter was enough to deaden Maureen's enthusiasm for the job.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Don't Treat the Offer Letter as a Technicality!

While everyone involved, candidate and hiring manager, may seem 'on board' with the fact that it's a 'fait accompli,' it's not. In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, 'It ain't over till it's over.' So make your offer letter compelling and be as involved in the crafting of the letter and the receipt of an affirmative as you are in every other step of the hiring process.

What Maureen got was what I call 'The Offer Form Letter' and it can be just as she described it - flat! We all have one of those in our files. Here's my suggestion for what you should do with it - dump it! Well, dump most of it at least. I know there are parts of the letter that are necessary for HR reasons and I'm not suggesting you dump these, but keep what you need and then add the compelling offer 'love letter' components.

I recommend:
Get loose (but not too loose...) by reading How to Write a Love Letter

Recap Your Interview/Reiterate Your Plan

Write some of the strategies and suggestions that were discussed during the interview process. (e.g., 'We are excited that you will be growing our metro New York regional sales and look forward to helping you be successful in your sales career with us.')

I recommend: Interview Questions You CAN'T Ask

Tell Them You Want Them

While there are exceptions to every rule, never, ever pay someone (especially someone who you have been wooing and wowing!) the same amount of money as they are making now. I don't care if it's only $100 or $1000 more than they are currently making, your offer should be for more money. Why? There is an important psychological factor in earning even a little more money when you take a new job. And there's a real 'disconnect' when a candidate has been wooed and wowed and then receives an offer letter for no more money than they are currently making. There's nothing that will dampen someone's enthusiasm for your company faster.

I recommend: Keeping Compensation Current and Competitive

Send Them a Present

I know of a company that includes a company tee shirt in their offer packet. I think it's a nice touch. If you've got those tees, squeeze balls or portfolios in the marketing department closet, get one out and send it. Instead of an offer letter envelope, they receive an offer box! It's an inexpensive way to earn lots and lots of good feelings.

I recommend: Make and Send a Company TShirt
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