Congratulations! You have done the hard work and received that magic job offer. You weren’t sure that you wanted to open the email to start with, but there it is, in black and white. But how do you go about accepting it?
Thinking about how to accept a job offer signals the last stage of your job hunt, so when you are ready to accept (and after you have finished negotiating the small print) here are a few things to think about when you compose your job acceptance response:
- What is a job acceptance email?
- How to accept a job offer via email (five steps)
- Tips for accepting a job over email
- Example of a letter for job acceptance
- Template of an email for accepting a job
What to do before you accept a job offer? Think. Long and hard. Just because you have been offered a job doesn’t mean that you need to accept it immediately. There is nearly always room for negotiation and most employers will be happy to hear a reasonable counter proposal. Only send the formal job acceptance email when you are happy with everything.
What is a job acceptance email?
A job acceptance email is an official job search document to certify that you agree to the terms of an employment offer. It is a required part of every recruitment process – a verbal agreement may be legally binding in some circumstances, but sending an email is far more usual. Writing a physical letter with your job acceptance is unusual these days.
You should have been given instructions from the recruiter, hiring manager or HR manager about how to structure the job acceptance letter and what to include, but if you are wondering how to accept a job offer, the suggestions within this blog should help.
What do you say when you get a job offer? There is often a “reply by” date included in the job offer, but you usually don’t have to respond immediately. It might be the case that you are waiting on other potential offers before you decide, so keep the employer informed and be honest about your situation. They will likely be happy to wait for you. Do not send a job acceptance email if you know that you might change your mind a week or two later. This can ruin your reputation with both employers and recruiters.
How do you accept a job offer via email?
Accepting a job via email or composing a job acceptance letter that you include in an email follows the normal rules of business correspondence. With a few specific parameters here are the steps to take:
- Write a functional subject line
- Consider to whom it should be addressed
- Express your gratitude and delight in accepting
- Set out the basic employment terms with your agreement
- Sign the email professionally.
Below you will find details on how to accomplish each step.
1. Write a functional subject line
HR managers get hundreds of emails every day, but your job offer acceptance email needs to be noticed and filed away in the correct place for future reference. You should therefore write a subject line for the email that ticks every practical requirement. There does not need to be any creativity in how to accept a job offer.
Include the phrase “*Job Title* job acceptance” as the first words, then put your name next (in bold, if you’d like). You might choose to put a date in the subject line, but that is a little unorthodox. There should be no other information. No “I am delighted to accept the offer” or any such extravagance that might crowd out the more important information.
“Warehouse Manager Job Acceptance – Harry Connell”
2. Consider to whom it should be addressed
When you are considering how to accept a job offer, you may not be sure to whom you should send the acceptance. Normally the details of the job offer will have been sent from a certain person and it should tell you how to go about accepting.
If you are not sure to whom the job offer acceptance should be addressed, a general rule of thumb is to send the email to both the hiring manager and the HR representative (so that they both have records of the fact. It is best to send it directly to your future boss (and address the salutation to them), whilst copying in (CCing) the HR representative.
How to accept a job offer is important, and while getting the etiquette of to whom it should be addressed slightly wrong won’t rescind it, it is important to consider the circumstances and try to make the most appropriate decision.
3. Express your gratitude and delight in accepting
The hiring manager would expect and hope that you are delighted to accept. They will have invested a considerable amount of time into the job search, so a sentence or two to share your joy and gratitude is not out of place.
You should remember that your influencing job has been done (for now), so temper your enthusiasm in your job acceptance email. Make sure that the most important elements of accepting the role take center stage.
4. Set out the basic employment terms with your agreement
The core reason for a job acceptance letter is to mirror the terms of the employment offer and confirm that you agree to what is on offer. It is enough to say that you agree with the terms of the employment offer that was sent to you on the specific date, but for clarity you might wish to include more details (as this email or letter will be included in your records).
You could include the job title, agreed salary and benefits (such as paid holiday) as well as the start date. This is all a formality, but it is well worth including these details to avoid any misunderstandings.
Only send an acceptance email once you have negotiated all the minutiae of the job offer. Sending a job acceptance letter when you are still finalizing some of the details can lead to issues along the line. You can send informal emails to either the hiring manager or HR if you need to adjust things such as start dates, flexible working conditions or other benefits.
Negotiating salary and other benefits
You have an offer email, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept all the terms it sets out. HR personnel are used to negotiating during the hiring process. Salary is just one aspect of your employment package. Here are other negotiable terms:
- Vacation time
- Flexible work hours
- Working from home
- Health benefits
- Bonuses and bonus structure
The time to negotiate any of these benefits is before sending your acceptance letter because that letter signifies that you are OK with all the terms of employment.
5. Sign the email professionally
The sign-off at the end of the email or letter should be the same as any other professional correspondence. There is no need to include anything else in this final section. Resist the temptation to finish on one last gushing phrase.
“Sincerely” or “Best regards” plus your full name will be fine.
Make sure that you get the offer in writing first. Only send the job acceptance email once you have formally received a job offer in writing. The hiring manager might give you a verbal offer, but ask them to send it in writing before you reply. This avoids any misunderstandings and is contractually binding.
Example of a letter for a job acceptance
Dear Mr. Campbell,
Thank you for your time last week – I very much enjoyed meeting the team.
I would be delighted to accept the role of Finance Manager at Kaltech Global. As discussed, the starting salary will be $62,800 with a 10% discretionary bonus and 25 days paid holiday. Insurance benefits will commence after a month of employment.
I cannot wait to start on the requested date of August 7, 2023. If there is anything else that you need from me in the meantime, please do get in touch on (787) 555 6453.
Sincerely,
(actual signature)
Petra Wright
Template of an email for accepting a job
Dear Ms. Matthews,
I am grateful for your time in discussing the job offer over the past week and am delighted that we have resolved the outstanding issues. I am dedicated to making the role a success and we are starting off on the right foot. As such, I formally accept the part-time offer of employment as Administrative Assistant as sent to me this morning.
As agreed, the starting salary will be $35,000 pro-rata for two days a week, with the potential to increase to three days a week after six months. There will be four weeks paid leave after a three-month probationary period.
I look forward to moving to Houston and meeting the rest of the team on my start date of July 24. 2023. If there are any questions in the meantime, please feel free to contact me on this email.
Best regards,
Janice Wingerton
Key takeaways
Writing a job acceptance email is a proud moment. Drink it in. The next step in your career starts when you press that send button.
- Get the offer in writing before you send your job acceptance email.
- You have time before you accept – think carefully before you press send.
- Write a functional letter, including all the key contractual details.
- Display a hint of enthusiasm – it has been likely a long process, after all.
