Purchasing Resources for Offer Letters

Offer Letters for Beginners

Writing offer letters that entice potential new hires to accept positions with your company
By Kate Esposito 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.

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.
Try:  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.
Try:  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.
Try:  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.

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