Offer letter templates that read like a person wrote them

An offer letter is a legal document and a sales document at the same time, and most of them only manage the first. These are written to be signed, not just filed. Have your employment counsel check the local specifics before you send one.

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The letter almost never wins the candidate. The call before it does. Send the document within an hour of that call while the conversation is still warm.

Everything below is copy and paste. Replace the bracketed fields, delete the clauses that do not apply, and keep it under one page where you can.

Copy the one you need

1. Verbal offer script

On the call, before anything is in writing

Hi [Name], I have good news. We would like you to join [Company] as [Title], reporting to [Manager].

The package is [base salary] plus [equity or bonus], starting [date]. [One sentence on the benefit you know they care about.]

Before I send the paperwork, I want to say why the team wanted this: [specific thing from their interviews]. That came up in every debrief.

I will send the written offer within the hour. Take the time you need to read it. What questions can I answer right now?

2. Full time offer letter

Standard permanent role

Dear [Name],

We are delighted to offer you the position of [Title] at [Company], reporting to [Manager], starting on [Start date].

Compensation and terms
- Base salary: [amount] per year, paid [frequency]
- Equity: [number] options, vesting over [schedule] with a [cliff]
- Bonus: [structure, or "not applicable"]
- Holiday: [days] paid days per year, plus public holidays
- Location: [office, hybrid or remote, and any expectation attached to it]
- Notice period: [period] after the probation period of [length]

This offer is conditional on [right to work confirmation and any background checks that genuinely apply].

Your written contract of employment, which contains the full terms, is attached. If anything in it is unclear, ask me before you sign.

To accept, reply to this email or sign below by [date]. If you need more time, tell me and we will find some.

We are looking forward to working with you.

[Your name]
[Title], [Company]

3. Contract or freelance offer

Fixed term, day rate or statement of work

Dear [Name],

We would like to engage you as [Title] on a [length] contract, starting [date].

Terms
- Rate: [amount] per [day or hour], invoiced [frequency]
- Scope: [what is being delivered, in one or two sentences]
- Working pattern: [days per week, expected availability]
- Notice: [period] on either side
- IP and confidentiality: covered in the attached agreement

You are engaged as an independent contractor and are responsible for your own taxes and insurance. Nothing here creates an employment relationship.

Reply to confirm and I will send the agreement for signature.

[Your name]

4. Internal promotion letter

Someone already on the team moving up

Hi [Name],

Confirming what we discussed: from [date] your role changes to [New title], reporting to [Manager].

- New base salary: [amount], effective [date]
- Equity: [additional grant, if any]
- Scope: [what they now own that they did not before]

This came out of [specific work that earned it]. It was an easy decision.

Your existing terms of employment continue unchanged apart from the items above. Reply to confirm you are happy with this.

[Your name]

Four rules that decide whether it gets signed

Send it the same day as the verbal. Every hour of silence after a call is a chance for another offer to land first.

Name a real deadline and then be relaxed about it. A one week window with a note that you will extend it if they ask reads as confident rather than pushy.

Put the number in the first two lines. Burying compensation under a paragraph of enthusiasm makes people scroll and worry.

Include one specific reason the team wanted them. It is the only sentence in the document nobody else could have written.

The offer stage is where slow hiring gets expensive.

Two days between a verbal yes and a document in someone's inbox is enough time for a counter offer to arrive.

I watch that gap, chase the approvals behind it, and tell you in the channel when the letter has not moved.

What people ask about this

Is an offer letter legally binding?

It depends on the jurisdiction and on what the letter says. Treat it as a conditional offer that leads to the employment contract, and have counsel review your standard version once rather than every time.

Should we include the equity value?

Include the number of options, the strike price, the vesting schedule and the current preferred price. Do not present a projected future value. Candidates who understand equity will trust you more for it, and the ones who do not will ask.

How long should candidates get to decide?

Five to seven days for most roles. Exploding offers of twenty four hours win the occasional signature and cost you the candidate's goodwill on day one.