An appointment letter lays out the details of a job offer. If you don’t know what information to include, you may struggle to properly construct this professional document. For example, you might try to include technical details about the employment to let the candidate know the conditions of his or her job. However, an appointment letter should focus more on the basics of a job offer.If this candidate was your boss’s top choice but you liked a different applicant best, you may not want to offer him or her a position. However, you still need to welcome the new employee to the company.Use our job appointment letter templates to learn how you can best write the offer. The writing tips below can help you figure out what type of information should make it into the document and what topics you shouldn’t touch on just yet, if at all.
Job Appointment Letter Template
Meredith Franks was part of a team assembled to hire someone as a social media specialist. She and her coworkers talked with dozens of applicants. After much debate, the group chose to hire Kai Washburne even though Meredith preferred a different candidate. She now has the responsibility of offering Kai a position with her company through a job appointment letter. See how she sets aside her personal feelings to write a professional, welcoming document.
Dear Mr. Kai Washburne,
After reviewing your application and meeting with you in person, we would like to offer you the job of social media specialist for White Plains Incorporated. As we discussed in your final interview, you will have to complete a mandatory drug test before your start date of September 25, 2017. On this day at 8 am, you will meet your direct supervisor, Joanna Dehne, at the visitor’s entrance. She will guide you through orientation, give you your access key, and introduce you to the rest of the marketing team.
If you still desire this position, please get in touch with us by 5 pm September 10. Simply sign and date this letter and return it to me to accept the job under the agreed upon conditions, which you can review before signing by reading the enclosed packet. If you are no longer interested in the social media specialist position, we ask that you please let us know as soon as possible to allow us to fill this spot.
If you have any questions before your start date, please feel free to contact me directly. Everyone here at White Plains looks forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
Meredith Franks
How to Write a Job Appointment Letter
An appointment letter informs an applicant he or she got the job. It may go over basic details of the position, such as who the new employee will work with, when the job starts, and what has to happen before the position starts. A job appointment letter has certain legal aspects associated with it, so you need to make sure to include the right information in a friendly way.
First, congratulate the candidate on being the top choice of the hiring committee. Use a straightforward phrase to let the candidate know the job is his or hers. Next, make sure to mention any important contingencies of the offer. For example, if the candidate has to pass a drug test or physical exam before officially getting the job, you should mention it in this note.
Make sure you explicitly mention the starting date for the job. While you may have already discussed this date in other correspondences, the job appointment letter acts as an official offer, so you need to include it again.
After that, add other important details the applicant may need before his or her first day. In the job appointment letter template, Meredith pointed out who Kai’s direct supervisor would be, where he should meet her on the first day, and what would happen on the first day. Remember, this does not have to be an all-inclusive list. In fact, you don’t have to mention topics typically associated with an employment contract.
Remember to let the applicant know what he or she should do after getting the letter. Do you need a formal reply, or will any response do? Finally, end the document by welcoming the newest employee to your team.
What to Avoid in Your Job Appointment Letter
It’s exciting to hire a new employee, but an appointment letter needs to remain professional. This note can have a legal role as documentation of an official job offer. Because of its legal role, you need to make sure you note everything correctly and appropriately. Misrepresenting the job can lead to serious issues for the company and could even lead to you losing your position as collateral. Before sending the letter out to the candidate, consider having the legal team at your company look it over.
Even though this document does have a legal role, it does not mean you have to go through all the technical details of a job. In fact, you shouldn’t mention specific conditions of employment, benefit offerings, grounds for termination, or intellectual property components. Leave these details for the employment contract.
Finally, try to add a bit of personality. After you’ve checked all the legal boxes, go over the letter to make sure it feels welcoming. If you send out a completely drab appointment note, the candidate may decide he or she does not want to work for your company because it seems boring or unappealing.
How to Follow Up After Sending Your Job Appointment Letter
In the letter, you asked the candidate to send his or her reply by a certain date. Even though you’re expecting the candidate to reach out, you can still follow up after sending the appointment letter. Send the person you’re offering the job to a quick email to make sure he or she received the note. Do this at least a week before the deadline to give the candidate plenty of time to accept the job. Reiterate you can answer any questions to make the wait for the starting date more bearable. This type of follow up can help welcome a new employee to the company even more than the initial letter because it shows how excited you are to welcome this person to the team.
Top 5 Job Appointment Letter Writing Takeaways
1. Bookend the note with kind sentiments
Starting and ending the job appointment letter with congratulations helps make the position appealing to the candidate. Include phrases such as “excited to offer” or “look forward to working with you” to strike a good balance between friendly and professional.
2. Gloss over technical details
This letter does not have to include every conceivable detail about the job. For example, you don’t have to include information about salary or position duration. Leave the legal details for the employment contract.
3. Provide information about the first day
Giving as much information about the first day as possible can help make the candidate more confident about the new job. Be sure to mention the starting date, the name of the direct supervisor, and the meeting location. Always include your contact information in case you forget some vital first-day information.
4. Make the next step clear
The candidate should not have to guess what he or she has to do after receiving the appointment letter. Clearly inform him or her how to accept the position, what tests to complete before the start date, or how to ask questions.
5. Review with your legal team
Reviewing the document with the company’s legal team before sending it out helps ensure you’re doing everything correctly. There could be certain protocols you have to follow in the appointment letter, or you may have to avoid certain phrases.
