How to accept a job offer by email

Once you accept, renegotiating is awkward. Before you reply, make sure you have, in writing:

• The job title, location and reporting manager.
• The full pay package: base salary, bonus, benefits, equity, any signing bonus and its conditions. Our guide on how to negotiate salary explains how to read the whole offer, including India's CTC breakdown.
• The start date, and whether it works with the notice you owe your current employer.
• Probation and notice terms: how long probation lasts and what notice you must give during and after it.
• Any service agreement or bond, including what you would pay if you leave early.
• Conditions of the offer: background check, drug test, references, work authorization, or degree completion for new graduates.

If you have agreed changes on a call, ask for a revised offer letter before you accept, or confirm the changes clearly in your acceptance email (template 2 below).

Don't resign from your current job until you have accepted a written offer, and ideally until any conditions such as background verification are cleared. A verbal offer can still change.

1. A clear subject line: “Offer acceptance – [Job title] – [Your name]”.
2. Thanks and a clear acceptance in the first two lines.
3. The key terms you are accepting: title, salary, start date. One or two lines is enough.
4. Next steps: documents you will send, forms to sign, or a question about onboarding.
5. A warm close and your phone number.

If the company asks you to sign and return the offer letter, or to accept through an online portal, do that as well. The email does not replace their process; it confirms it and opens the conversation.

In India, HR usually asks for more at this stage: PAN and Aadhaar cards, degree certificates, the last three months' payslips, and relieving and experience letters from your previous employer.

Once you have accepted one offer, tell the other companies promptly. A short, gracious email keeps the door open; recruiters remember candidates who were straightforward with them.

You don't need to name the other company or explain the salary difference. If you have interviews scheduled elsewhere, withdraw from those too.

1. Resign from your current job in writing, once the offer is secure. Our guide on how to write a resignation letter and the resignation email template help with the wording.
2. Agree your last working day. On a long notice period, if you need to leave early, see our guide to the notice period email to your manager.
3. Collect your documents: final paystubs, benefits and 401(k) details, and in the UK your P45. In India, also your relieving letter, experience letter and Form 16; our guide on relieving letter vs experience letter explains each.
4. Keep in touch with your new employer before you start: a short update every couple of weeks, and a reply to every onboarding email.
5. Update LinkedIn once you have started, or once your current employer knows you are leaving. The free LinkedIn headline generator suggests a new headline in seconds.

• Accepting before seeing the written terms. Especially the salary breakdown and bond clauses.
• Accepting two offers. Accepting one and continuing to wait on another, then backing out, damages your reputation with a recruiter and sometimes with a whole company.
• Resigning on a verbal offer. Wait for the written offer and any conditions to clear.
• Leaving the start date vague. Agree a date or a clear way to set one.
• Going silent before you start. A new employer that hears nothing for weeks, or two months on a long notice period, may start to worry.
• Forgetting to thank the people who helped: the recruiter, the referrer, your references.