If that job offer you just got signals a happy end to your search, you might immediately want to text all your friends, pop the bubbly, and cue the imaginary marching band to mark the sheer magnitude of this moment.
Or, if you know you’re not going to take the job, you may want to shrug and go about your day uninterrupted. Or maybe your reaction is somewhere in between. Regardless, at some point, you start wondering how to respond to a job offer, the right way.
Before you start the celebration or walk away, you need to decide what you want to do about the offer and communicate it to the company. Even though you’re at the finish line of this company’s hiring process, it’s important to keep communication professional and respond in a reasonable amount of time. It should go without saying that ghosting an employer is not professional—no matter how often you’ve been ghosted yourself. Here's what to do.
Don't stop looking just yet—check out these amazing opportunities on The Muse and keep your options open »
What the job offer process looks like
Typically, you’ll get the initial offer over the phone or virtual meeting—sometimes referred to as a “verbal.” But you’re not generally expected to give your answer at that point—so don’t feel pressured to. Give yourself time to think the decision through.
You’re going to be spending five days a week doing this job and you want to be sure. So say something along the lines of, “Thank you so much! I’ll get back to you soon,” and give your “real” response via email.
If they need to know by a certain date, they’ll usually tell you. But if they don’t, you may want to ask the employer when they’d like your answer—especially if you’re waiting on other possible offers. A week is pretty standard.
Following the verbal, you’ll get an email with the official written offer—including more details about the job and compensation and benefits info. When you’re ready to give your response, you can reply directly to the written offer with an email of your own.
Whether you want to accept, decline, ask for more time or information, or negotiate, we’ve got a rundown of what to include in your email. Oh, and we also have samples—ones you could definitely copy. No need to reinvent the wheel here. (Just make sure you’re swapping in your own information.)
How to respond to a job offer
Besides accepting or declining a job offer, you can also negotiate or ask for more information to help you make a decision. Here’s what to say in each case:
How to accept a job offer
If you’ve gotten all your questions about the job answered and you’re ready to accept, the next step is writing to the recruiter or hiring manager—whoever sent you the offer. Don’t get too nervous—you’re sharing good news here and that’s always exciting!
Here's what your email should include:
- Expression of your thanks to the recruiter or hiring manager
- Clear acceptance of the offer and confirmation of the job title and start date
- A question about the next steps, such as documentation to sign and onboarding
You can keep your message pretty short. After you send this note, you’ll usually need to formally accept the offer by signing a contract—so keep an eye on your inbox.
Accepting job offer email example:
Hello Sade,
Thanks again for sharing the details of the offer with me yesterday. After reviewing the terms, I’m thrilled to accept the position of associate product manager. I’m excited about this opportunity and can’t wait to join the team on September 3rd!
Please let me know what the next steps are and if there’s anything I need to do or sign prior to onboarding.
Best,
Elliot Feng
How to decline a job offer
If your gut reaction to that offer was to shrug and walk away, that’s OK. Sometimes you just don’t want to take the job. Maybe after interviewing, you realized that this role isn’t the right fit. Or maybe the stars have aligned and you have more than one offer to choose from; it’s a wonderful problem to have, but it also means you have to turn one down. (Here are our tips on how to politely decline a job offer.)
Rejection is hard, no matter which side you’re on. However, even if you feel like an employer invested a lot of time and effort pitching the job to you, “no” is part of the job search process on both sides. So keep your email short and sweet. You want to sound appreciative but don’t draw it out too much.
Here's what to do:
- Express gratitude to the team, hiring manager, or recruiter for the offer and for meeting with you.
- Optional: Indicate your reason for declining, but keep it high level and short. You “decided to go in another direction” (a.k.a., the job search version of, “It’s not you, it’s me”).
- Wrap it up with an invitation to keep in touch.
Declining a job offer email example:
Hello Dan,
Thank you again for the opportunity to meet the team last week. It was great learning more about the communications manager position from everyone, and I was excited to receive the job offer. However, after careful consideration, I’ve decided this role isn’t the right fit for my career goals at this time.
It’s been a pleasure getting to know you, and I hope I’ll have the chance to work with you in the future. Please keep in touch!
Sincerely,
Sofia Cabral
Read this next: How to Turn Down a Job Offer but Keep the Door Open
How to ask for more details about a job offer
Some organizations will send you every last detail you could possibly need to make a decision right off the bat. Many don’t—and you’ll need to ask for more information (e.g., about health insurance coverage) before making your final decision.
Sometimes you just need a bit more time to digest it all or you want to pore over the details of the bonus structure, for example. Maybe an interview with another company went really well and you’re hoping to get an offer from them soon as well. Regardless, you’ll need to communicate what you need.
When you’re asking for more information, make sure your question is clear and framed in a way that indicates that not having this information is preventing you from making a decision about the offer. If you’re looking for more time, most recruiters will happily accommodate a week from the verbal offer.
If you’re waiting on another offer, inform the other company immediately that you have an offer on the table to try and speed up the process. It’s up to them to rush a competing offer out to you. If it’s not a priority for them—then unfortunately, the offer may not have been in the cards to begin with.
Asking for more details about a job offer email example:
Hello Mateo,
I was very excited to get your call and receive the job offer for the sales trainer position. I’d like to make a well-informed and thoughtful decision about this and would appreciate the opportunity to chat with a couple more team members to get a better sense of the culture of the company.
Would this be possible to arrange?
To give me time to learn more about the role, could I get back to you on the offer by the 15th? Thank you in advance for your help with this.
Best,
Naomi Acker
How to negotiate a job offer
Nothing shakes up a job seeker quite like negotiating salary, PTO, benefits, remote work options, or pretty much anything else—but it’s fairly common and employers won’t be shocked or offended.
Most of the negotiating should happen over the phone or virtual meeting with details confirmed via email, but to initiate this whole process you’ll need to send a note to set up the call.
Here's how to structure your email:
- Start by saying thank you and expressing your excitement and fit for the role.
- Clearly state that you have questions and the terms of the offer you'd like to clarify.
- Ask for a meeting or phone call, with a suggested time and date.
Keep in mind that you don't need to explicitly say you'd like to negotiate the terms in the email. For instance, if you intend to negotiate salary, usually something like, “I have a question about the salary,” is enough to get across that you’re planning on negotiating.
This might also help: How to Handle Salary Negotiations at Any Stage of the Hiring Process
Negotiating job offer email example:
Hello Nabi,
Thank you so much for offering me the people operations role. I had a great time meeting everyone and am excited about the prospect of joining the team!
After reviewing the offer, I had a few questions I wanted to run by you—particularly about the base salary and relocation process. Would you have time this week to discuss this? I’m free most afternoons around 1pm.
Sincerely,
Lisa Brown
Bonus tips on how to respond to a job offer email
Every exchange with a recruiter or hiring manager is a professional conversation. Don't assume that you can relax because you got an offer. Here are some extra steps to keep in mind when writing your email responding to a job offer:
- Give a timely response: Aim to answer your email within 24 hours. If you need more time to think about the offer, inform the recruiter and ask what would be their ideal deadline for a final response.
- Confirm every detail: If you're going to accept the offer, read the recruiter's email carefully. You want to be sure that what's being offered matches what was said during the interviews or listed in the job posting—especially information regarding salary and benefits.
- Grammar and spell check your email: As mentioned, you should be professional in every step of the process and maintain the good impression you made during the interview. So remember to spell and grammar check the email before sending.
- Be polite: Sometimes you'll receive a poor offer, with unreasonable demands or an extremely low salary. In these situations, it's very tempting to express your outrage, but it's better if you don't—especially if you're in a small industry. Be polite and keep that door open just in case.
That's it. Wrap up this whole process now and put a bow on it—or ask for whatever it is you need to make your choice. No more procrastinating. Go and send that email—it’s basically written for you already!