Rejecting a job offer can be tricky. Remaining professional and polite whilst replying to an insulting job offer, or negotiating a better deal for yourself, takes careful consideration. The last thing you want to do is to act fast and send a poorly written job offer rejection email out of frustration.

To make your life easier, our team at TECHAXY has developed 5 easy email templates to professionally decline a job offer. Based on common candidate concerns, we will help you to secure your dream job by declining or renegotiating bad offers of employment.

So, take a deep breath and discover the best ways to respond to a job offer you just don’t want.

1: Counter Offer or Decline a Job Offer

If you’ve invested time in researching a company and taking part in an in-depth interview process, you might be frustrated if you receive a job offer that doesn’t quite match your expectations.

Rather than let your pride dictate what you write in your email, use this smart counter offer to renegotiate terms. The good news is, the ball is in your court if you receive an offer of employment.

The company has already made the decision to hire you, so as long as you’re polite and professional in your response, you can create your own job offer that reflects your skills and experience and meets your salary expectations.

Job offer rejection email template:

Hi (name of contact)

Thank you for taking the time to meet me the other day. I really appreciate the job offer you have sent over. I have taken a look at the initial offer and I was hoping that we could adjust it slightly to match my criteria. I would be more than happy to accept an offer with the following changes:

( your adjusted criteria )

Please let me know your thoughts.

I look forward to hearing from you and joining your team!

Best wishes

(Name)

2: Decline a Job Offer Due to a Better Offer

Sometimes you will be lucky enough to be hired before you hear back from all your job interviews. When this happens, you should always take the time to reply to each job offer email, explaining that you have chosen to accept another offer. It’s just social etiquette. You can use the below email template to decline a job offer when you have accepted another one.

Job offer rejection email template:

Hi (name of contact)

It’s lovely to hear from you. Thank you for sending over the offer of employment. Unfortunately, I have chosen to accept another offer at this time. I want to say thank you for taking the time to meet me and I wish you and your team all the best.

Regards,

(Name)

3: Buy Yourself Some Time

If you want to hear back from all potential employers before carefully analysing each job offer, you might need to buy yourself some extra time. The important thing to remember is that you shouldn’t reveal that you’re waiting to hear back from other companies. If an employer thinks that you’re applying for many different jobs, it can come across as though you aren’t passionate about their company or brand, and this can harm your chances of employment.

Job offer rejection email template:

Hi (name of contact)

Thank you for sending over the job offer. This is very exciting news. I will take a look at the offer in detail and will get back to you within a couple of days with my final decision.

Have a great week!

(Name)

4: Leave The Door Open

Even if you’re declining a job offer, things might not work out with your next employer. To keep the door open, send a job offer rejection email that gives the illusion that you accepted the first offer you received, but you are still passionate about their company.

Job offer rejection email template:

Hi (name of contact)

Thank you for sending over the offer to join your company. Unfortunately, I have just accepted another offer, however, I want to express how much I appreciate the time you took to meet me. It was lovely to meet you and get to know more about your company and brand. If things don’t quite work out with this position, I would love to reconnect and discuss working together in the future.

Warm regards,

(Name)

5: Politely Say No to a Bad Offer

Yes, sometimes companies can be cheeky when it comes to offers of employment. What they choose to advertise, and what they actually offer candidates can be completely different. This should be a red flag during your job search and it’s OK to decline a bad job offer but in a polite and professional way.

Job offer rejection email template:

Hi (name of contact)

Thank you for contacting me and sending over the offer of employment. Unfortunately, I will have to decline this offer as it doesn’t match the initial job description or what we discussed during the interview process. I wish you all the best in finding another candidate for this role.

Thank you,

(Name)

MORE JOBS: