People tend to concentrate on job interviews, but handling a job offer well can be just as important. Here's how to accept or decline a job offer.
Accepting
Sometimes you get the job you have been hoping for. In such cases, the appropriate acceptance is something like “Thank you! This sounds like a fantastic opportunity, and I look forward to working with you and the rest of the team.” Negotiate a start date (which can often be immediately if you do not have to give notice at another job, but may be two or three weeks if you do, or even months for upper level management jobs requiring relocation).
A formal acceptance letter is usually not necessary, but may be so for out-of-town jobs or contract offers. If you do need to write a letter accepting the job offer, make it brief:
“Dear XXX:
I am writing you today to inform you that I accept the position of XXX at ABC Organization. As per our conversation on XXX, I will be starting on DATE.
I look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
NAME.”
Declining
Sometimes you know you will be declining a job offer. Maybe the pay is unacceptable, or once you found out more information you realized you were not really interested in the job. No matter what your reason for rejecting a job offer, make it polite. You never know if a more suitable job will come open; employers will often contact people directly in these types of situations. Even if you know you will never, ever work for that organization for whatever reason, you still need to be polite. You never know if your interviewer will turn out to be cousins of the executive director of an organization you truly would love to work with.
When declining a job offer, say something like “Thank you. I appreciate the offer, but I regret I must decline.” If you can’t think of anything nice to say, just stop there. However, it can often be helpful to organizations if you can provide a brief explanation. “I just accepted another job offer two days ago,” or “Unfortunately, the pay scale is not sufficient,” or “The work schedule is just not going to work with my other obligations.”
There is hardly ever any reason to decline a job offer in writing. If so (for instance, a mutual acquaintance suggested you apply, and you don’t want to make him/her look bad), just send a brief note:
“Dear XXX:
Thank you for the opportunity to work with ABC Organization. I regret to inform you that I must decline the offer of XXX Position.
Thank you once again for your kind consideration. [I hope we have a chance to collaborate in the future.]
Sincerely,
NAME.”
Additional reading: When you don't know whether to accept or decline a job offer.
