How to accept a job offer

How to accept a job offer tends to be defined by the company hiring you but it’s still a question that people have as they’re about to change jobs.

A few weeks ago we spoke about how to accept a job offer but we mostly discussed issues related to things you should think about when accepting a job offer.

But what about figuring out exactly how to accept a job offer?

In other words what is the exact process to accept the job?

Typically, the company does have some sort of a process that they have probably mentioned to you regarding what you officially need to do to accept the offer and make it final.

Here are the steps that typically happen as a job offer is being readied for you:

1. Presumably, successful reference checks that the employer is happy with – along with any background test, drug testing or other tests – have been completed. Typically, job offers aren’t tendered until references have been successfully completed.

2. Normally, a verbal acceptance or perhaps an email stating that you accept the company’s offer comes next. Some companies ask that you verbally agree to the job offer before they put it in writing so that they don’t waste the time of typing something up and then have you reject it. In this instance, you’d agree to the basic parts of the offer that are important – salary, vacation, job title, etc – and then the offer is put into writing.

3. You’re going to have something in writing to sign – the job offer, perhaps a non-compete clause or other paperwork – which will undoubtedly be part of the process.

4. You return the necessary paperwork to your new employer on or before the date they specify to the person specified. These days this is often in the form of a fax, email and/or sending the original documents in person or by mail/courier. I always like to follow up to ensure they received the paperwork and that all i’s are dotted and t’s crossed before the final step…

5. You hand in your resignation to your current employer. As mentioned, you shouldn’t resign until you have returned the job offer to your new employer and they have confirmed that they have it.

I’ve seen cases where people – I have no idea why they do this – resign before they have completed the process with their new employer. I’ve heard of people telling their current manager that they have a new job as they’re waiting for the job offer from the new employer! Why someone would do this, I have no idea.

A new job isn’t a new job until you have it in writing and have returned the job offer to your new employer and have confirmed that they have it.

Sometimes, people get antsy when getting a new job and want to tell their current employer as soon as possible perhaps because they feel a sense of loyalty and want to give them enough time to find a replacement.

Sometimes people agree to start a new job but can’t give their current employer the proper notice time so perhaps they decide to announce their resignation before getting the offer in order to give the proper notice period or to come as close as possible.

Again, unless you have the job offer in writing, what’s the point in resigning? I know of one case where a woman I knew had resigned from her current employer after getting a verbal job offer but the job offer was pulled (the hiring company changed their mind and decided not to hire her) so she ended up becoming unemployed.

If giving proper notice is going to be a problem when accepting a new job, you might have to do some negotiating. Typically 2-3 weeks notice is standard but your specific instance might be different. Some people have notice periods of 4 weeks or longer so if your new employer wants you to start in say 2 weeks, you’re going to have to do some talking with either your current employer (to get a shorter notice period), your new employer (to get a later start date) or both.

The last thing you want to do is burn bridges and quit your current employer without giving them the proper notice period against their wishes. I recall doing a reference check for one woman who had quit her old employer without giving the proper notice period and when I called her former manager to do a reference on her, the only thing he wanted to talk about was how she quit suddenly and “left me in the lurch” to use his words. Needless to say, it wasn’t a very good reference.

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