The hiring process can be lengthy, costly, and stressful for recruiters and human resource managers. A job offer letter is an important part of the hiring process. When someone is selected as the best candidate for a position, moving quickly with a job offer is crucial.
What is a job offer letter?
A job offer letter is a formal piece of communication from an employer to a prospective employee. The letter includes an offer of employment and all the terms and conditions pertaining to the position. The offer letter includes the job description, compensation, bonus structure, vacation time allotment, benefit details, and other related items.
Another document commonly associated with job offers is an employment contract. An employment contract is legally binding, and an offer letter serves as a formal clarification and agreement. Job offer letters are not legally binding; however, they are a way to avoid misunderstandings about promises of future wage or benefit increases, time off, and other details that can quickly become sources of contention if not clarified in a formal letter.
How to write a job offer letter
Writing a job offer letter can initiate employee engagement and make an excellent first impression of the company culture for your selected job candidate. Job offer letters can be casual or formal, depending on company culture and type of position offered. The letter's tone should showcase your company brand, style, and culture while complying with necessary employment laws. A critical aspect of drafting an offer letter is response time. Quick responses during the recruitment process make a big difference in the hiring process. Top qualifying candidates go quickly during the recruitment process. A slow response time in extending an offer can lead to missed opportunities.
What should be included when writing a job offer letter?
Job offer letters should be welcoming, use positive language, and communicate information about the position and the offer. It is essential to include details about the position, such as work hours, full or part-time classification, overtime information, department, and immediate supervisor. Following the global pandemic and the significant shift to remote work for most companies, many employees expect remote work as an option. Currently, there is a shift back to in-office work expectations.
Therefore, it is imperative to define the type of position and whether it is remote, in-office, or hybrid. Offer letters must include salary or compensation information, benefits information, including vacation and sick leave, and contingencies such as background checks, drug screening, or other conditions affecting employment eligibility. Finally, a job offer letter should conclude with specific company contact information and instructions for accepting the offer.
Who is responsible for writing a job offer letter?
Responsibility for writing job offer letters typically falls on the hiring manager, human resources department, or company recruiters in-house or third party. The structure and size of the company offering the position determines who will write and send the offer letter. For example, the company owner or department head may send offer letters in smaller companies. Larger enterprises often employ recruiting companies or may have an in-house recruiting department. Mid-size companies rely on their human resources departments to recruit and send offer letters.
Job Offer Templates
Templates provide a simple way to create job offer letters. A template helps streamline and simplify the letter-writing process, saving time and enabling companies to create detailed, consistent professional documents quickly.
Three handy job-related templates available on Craft include:
Job Description
The first step in soliciting candidates for a position is a job description. Job descriptions should be simple, written in verbiage consistent with company policies, and clearly define the information in the suggested sections on the template. The job description template includes an About section for a brief company overview, the role or position description, and a more specific section for job expectations to lay out what is involved in the position's day-to-day responsibilities. Required skills and competencies are also included.
Job Posting
Job postings are essential for companies to attract top talent for their open positions. Craft has a job posting template to help simplify the process of creating job postings empowering human resources, recruiting teams, or company owners to post carefully written, attractive job postings quickly. The template includes the job title, an inset summary with sample verbiage describing the details of the job, and a dedicated section about the team's culture, location, and mission.
Job Offer
Craft's job offer template provides an area to include your introduction, plus an official offer section with bullet points laying out the role, salary, stock, and start date. The offer section also includes holidays and an equipment section. The job offer concludes with detailed instructions about accepting the offer, including printable document samples for signing and returning.
Legal Requirements necessary for job offer letter
Offer letters are not legally binding. However, it is best practice to include an at-will statement. An at-will statement establishes an employment relationship that either party may terminate at any time.
Employer or employee may terminate employment at will with no legal obligation or repercussions. In contrast to an employment contract, an offer letter contains no promise of future employment or compensation. Instead, it serves as a formal document for communication purposes, helping establish an agreement between the parties based on a mutual understanding of job responsibilities, time off, benefits, salary, and other details about the company and position.