You can create, customize, and send digital offer letters directly from CareerPlug. However, you first need to create an offer letter template.
When you send an offer, you can tailor content to match the individual applicant. Use this template to send digital offer letters to multiple candidates, saving you valuable time and improving consistency in your hiring process.
To see what an offer letter looks like to an applicant, click here.
In this article:
- Creating an offer letter template
- Using dynamic fields in offer letters
- Creating custom dynamic fields for offer letters
- Setting a job's default offer letter template
- Changing offer letter notification settings
- Sending an offer letter to an applicant
- Checking the status of an offer
- Offer letter template examples
- FAQ
Creating an offer letter template
An offer letter template holds the default content of an offer letter. When you send an individual offer to an applicant, you can adjust the specific content as it pertains to an individual applicant if necessary. One best practice is to have different offer letter templates for different types of positions if offers for different positions will differ significantly.
1. Navigate to Settings > Templates > Offer Letters.
2. Click the plus icon (+) to create a new offer letter template.
3. Enter a Template name.
4. Enter content for your offer letter in the Body field.
5. Configure the notification settings for this offer letter template.
Any user of your account, or whoever sent the offer letter ("Offer Letter Sender"), can be notified when an applicant is sent an offer, accepts an offer, or rejects an offer. Start typing a user's name if you want them to receive notifications in these situations. When the user's name appears, click it to add them to the notification settings.
6. When you finish setting up your offer letter template, click the Save button.
Now you're ready to send an offer letter to an applicant!
Using dynamic fields in offer letters
When you're crafting the content of your offer letter, you'll notice an Insert Dynamic Field option. You can use dynamic fields to automatically populate information in an offer letter template — such as the applicant's name, the name of the job the applicant applied to, and even your company logo — when you send an offer to an applicant.
There are four dynamic fields available to use in offer letters:
- Hire Date (date field)
- Manager Name (will prefill as the hiring manager for the job)
- Pay rate (the offer letter sender will have two choices: Hourly or Salary)
- Pay type (a dollar amount field)
To add dynamic fields to your offer letter:
1. Click the Insert Dynamic Field link.
2. Click Select type and add as many dynamic fields as you want to include in your offer letter from the drop-down menu.
To remove a dynamic field, click the field and then the "X" icon that appears at the top of it.
Creating custom dynamic fields for offer letters
You can also create custom dynamic fields for things like the number of vacation days. You'll be asked to add response options, and you can select or type the response that applies to a specific applicant at the time you send an offer to them.
These fields are a bit different from the system-filled dynamic fields, as you will need to create them and select the correct response when creating an individual offer letter, instead of having text automatically populate on its own.
To add a custom dynamic field to your offer letter template:
1. Click the Insert Dynamic Field link and select Manage from the drop-down menu.
2. Click the plus icon (+).
3. Enter the name of your custom field in the Variable name field and choose a field Type.
4. Add any instructions you want users to view when creating an offer letter from this offer letter template.
5. If the field type requires preset response options (such as with Select - Dropdown type fields), click the Add Response Option button and enter your Response Options.
6. If you want this field to be required for all offer letters created from this template, turn on the Required toggle.
7. When you're done setting up your custom dynamic field, click the Save button.
8. Click the Insert Dynamic Field link.
9. Click Select type, then Offer Letter, and choose your new custom dynamic field from the drop-down menu.
10. When you're done editing your offer letter template, click the Save button in the top right corner of the page.
Custom dynamic fields are specific to individual offer letters. You'll need to add new ones for each offer letter template you create.
Setting a job's default offer letter template
Each job must have one offer letter template associated with it.
To set the offer letter template for a job:
1. Navigate to your Jobs page.
2. Find your job and click the Edit button.
3. Click the Hiring Settings tab.
4. Select an Offer Letter Template from the drop-down menu.
5. Click the Update Job Post button to save your changes.
When you are actually sending an offer to an applicant, you can select any offer letter template on your account. This is just a default setting.
Changing offer letter notification settings
Any user(s) in your account — or whoever sent an offer letter ("Offer Letter Sender") — can be notified when:
- An applicant is sent an offer letter
- An applicant accepts an offer letter
- An applicant rejects an offer letter
To adjust the notification settings for an offer letter template:
1. Navigate to Settings > Templates > Offer Letters.
2. Click the Edit button next to the offer letter template for which you want to change the notification settings.
3. Scroll to the Configure Notifications section. Enter users' names in the field for each offer letter situation you want them to be notified about. When the user's name appears, click the user's name to add them to the notification settings.
You can also choose the Offer Letter Sender option, which will send a notification to whoever sends the offer.
4. When you finish adjusting the notification settings for an offer letter template, click the Save button.
Sending an offer letter to an applicant
1. Navigate to your Applicants page.
2. Find the applicant to whom you want to extend an offer and click the Make an Offer button in the Actions column.
If you don't see the Make an Offer button on your Applicants page, you can click the applicant's name, expand the Send Offer hiring step, and click the Make an Offer button.
3. On the Configure offer letter page, select the Offer Letter Template you want to use. The offer letter associated with the job will be selected by default.
4. Set the values for any dynamic fields included in your offer letter.
5. Set a date for your offer letter to expire.
6. If you want to allow applicants to choose or revise their start date, turn on the associated toggle at the bottom of the page.
7. Click the Edit Text button to edit the content of the offer letter. If you make any changes, make sure you click the Save button.
8. Click the Next button.
9. Review the preview offer. If you need to make any changes, click the Back button.
10. Click the Next button to configure the offer email.
11. Choose the email template for your offer letter from the Select template drop-down menu and make any changes that you'd like to the Subject and Email Content.
12. Click the Send Offer button.
The applicant will receive the message, with a link they can click to view the offer.
Checking the status of an offer
To view the status of an offer, click the applicant's name from your Applicants page and expand the Send Offer hiring step.
Offer statuses include:
- Offer Sent - the applicant has been sent the offer, but they have not viewed it.
- Offer Read - the applicant has viewed the offer but not acted upon it (you must visit the applicant's profile to determine whether the offer has been read)
- Offer Accepted
- Offer Rejected
When an offer is accepted or rejected, notifications will be sent according to the offer letter template's settings.
The applicant below has viewed the offer letter but has not acted upon it.
You can edit or rescind the offer letter at any time.
Offer letter template examples
Here are some offer letter examples that you can use as the foundation for your own!
General offer letter template
Email subject line: [Company_name] Job Offer / Job Offer from [Company_name]
Dear [Candidate_name],
We were all very excited to meet and get to know you over the past few days. We have been impressed with your background and would like to formally offer you the position of [Job_title]. This is a [full/part] time position [mention working days and hours.] You will be reporting to the head of the [Department_name] department. [If applicable: Please note that [Company_name] is an at-will employer. That means that either you or [Company_name] are free to end the employment relationship at any time, with or without notice or cause.]
We will be offering you an annual gross salary of [$X] and [mention bonus programs, if applicable.] You will also have [mention benefits as per company policy, like health and insurance plan, corporate mobile or travel expenses] and [X] days of paid vacation per year.
[optional: I am attaching a letter with more details about your compensation plan.]
Your expected starting date is [date.] You will be asked to sign a contract of [contract_duration, if applicable] and [mention agreements, like confidentiality, nondisclosure and noncompete] at the beginning of your employment.
We would like to have your response by [date.] In the meantime, please feel free to contact me or [Manager_name] via email or phone on [provide contact details], should you have any questions.
We are all looking forward to having you on our team.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
[Signature]
Formal offer letter template
Email subject line: [Company_name] job offer / Job offer from [Company_name]
Dear [Candidate_name],
We’re delighted to extend this offer of employment for the position of [Job_title] with [Company_name]. Please review this summary of terms and conditions for your anticipated employment with us.
If you accept this offer, your start date will be [Start Date] or another mutually agreed upon date, and you would report to [Manager_name].
Please find attached the terms and conditions of your employment, should you accept this offer letter. We would like to have your response by [date]. In the meantime, please feel free to contact me or [Manager_name] via email or phone at [provide contact details], if you have any questions.
We are all looking forward to having you on our team.
Best regards,
[Your name]
[Signature]
Frequently asked questions
Q: Is there a way for a candidate to digitally sign an offer letter?
A: Yes. When a candidate accepts an offer, the candidate will be required to type their own name, but they will also have the option to digitally draw their signature.
Q: Are candidates able to print their offer letter?
A: Yes. Candidates will be emailed the completed and signed offer as a PDF, which they can print. This file is also available to hiring managers within the Documents tab of the applicant profile page. Clicking the download icon will save a PDF of the offer to your computer.
Q: If the candidate accidentally rejects the offer, is there a way to undo this?
A: If a candidate clicks Reject on an offer, they will be presented the below pop-up, where they will be required to click Reject Offer a second time. However, even if a candidate makes it through both steps and rejects an offer by mistake, you always have the ability to resend an offer at any point from your Applicants page or the applicant profile page.
Q: Is it possible to attach additional documents as part of an offer letter template?
A: No. You cannot assign additional documents to your offer letter templates. However, you do have the option to attach documents at the point of sending an offer letter, as well as the ability to attach documents to your offer letter email templates.
Q: Do CareerPlug accounts include premade offer letter templates?
A: No. Currently, CareerPlug accounts do not come with premade offer letter templates. However, all accounts include offer letter email templates.