Irrespective of whether you’re faced with an offer that you would never in a million years even consider accepting or one that you just might give a thought to this article will help your boat sail smoothly and on its way, acquaint you with a number of ways to go about such situations with utmost grace with, by answering your question of “How to Turn Down a Job Offer Politely”.
When you are beginning your career or changing it after years of staying in the same field, it’s only natural to try and spread your arms as far as possible. In the same spirit, people end up filling up every job application in hopes of landing their dream job offer and getting rid of their current position in the hiring process which could be the answer to your job search.
Even though this is a dream situation to be in, when you have offer letters from N number of places waiting for your response to the job offer lying on the table, your heart would always feel heavy when it’s time to turn down a letter or a job off. It’s just never easy.
In situations when you end up having multiple job offers or when you get offered a role that is not quite the right fit for you or that doesn’t fall under your area of expertise it’s only normal for the question of how to turn down a job offer politely to pop in your head. To decline a job offer, it’s important for it to reflect both professionalism and a very formal and official way of dealing with the situation and following your career goals and future opportunities.
Key Rules
Three of the most important key rules when it comes to answering your question of “How to turn down a job offer politely” and to decline a job offer are as follows-
• It is extremely important for you to update the hiring manager or the recruiter you were in contact with as soon as you’ve made up your mind. Beating around the bush and dragging out the process or informing them of your decision at the last minute will not do you any favors. It doesn’t exactly stand for maintaining a good relationship with the recruiter, hiring manager, or any other person of contact.
• It is also vital to always be polite and thank the hiring manager for the offer, remember that they are giving you a chance, and even though right now the situation might be in your favor with multiple job opportunities the tables can always turn. Remember to always be polite regardless of the reason you’re turning the offer letter down.
• Even though it is not important to mention the exact reason, make sure that the way you are approaching rejecting the job offer letter should be detailed and dependent on the reason you’re saying ‘no, thanks to the job offer.
Throughout the course of this article, you will come across some very common scenarios where you have to decline a job offer, that you might be able to relate to. These will help you tackle the situation of how to turn down an offer letter politely.
How to Turn Down A Job Offer Politely, in 3 Easy Steps:
While making any decisions in life, especially when they are work-related, the one thing that you must always keep in mind is for them to be the best suited for you. And no, this is not called being selfish.
You can consider rejecting the offer letter by phone as you might be able to express yourself better that way. It’s considered to be the best way to decline a job offer. In case you Can’t make a phone call, send an email. Immediately canceling all your thoughts like declining a job offer would burn a bridge. Thank them for offering you the job, remember to be polite. Give a general reason to them and ask them to stay in touch even after you decline the job.
1. Show Your Appreciation to the Hiring Manager
It’s extremely important to extend your gratitude to the hiring manager who took out the time and considered you for the job at hand. Their job description might revolve around interviewing potential candidates for the right job but they most probably spent long hours in the whole process of shortlisting your name.
In the initial stage, they must have read and examined your resume, scrolled through your Instagram profile and even sat down for an interview with you. All this hard work deserves recognition and gratitude.
If you had personally bonded with them or in case they were really impressed with you, they would have definitely gone out of their way to talk you up in front of their superiors and your rejection letter might look bad on them. A heartfelt thank you for putting in their valuable time and effort could go a long way when you have to decline a job offer to the Hiring team in the interview process for a new job or position.
For Instance; A hearty thank you for offering me the position of Marketing Manager. I have a great appreciation for your effort to take out this valuable time to consider me for this position. Thank you so much for answering so many of my questions about the company and role. I have huge respect and only best wishes for you.
Or
I would like to extend my gratitude to you for taking my interview last week. It was great to meet the team and look at the offices. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the position of Operations Director, and I deeply appreciate this generous offer from your end.
2. Give a Good, Brief Reason For Rejecting the Job Offer Gracefully
Giving a good and brief reason is a very important step of how to turn down a job offer politely. You don’t have to go overboard with it, you can go on to elaborate and give your reason in a decent length, as far as it makes sense. Especially if you’ve spent a lot of time and invested more of your resources in the interviewing process, it’s the right and respectful thing not to leave a hiring manager in the dark, wondering about why you’re declining the offered position.
With that being said, as far as the question of “How to Turn Down a Job Offer Politely” is concerned, there’s no need to go into detail about the red flags you saw when you visited the office, or to spill about the amazing perks at the job you ended up accepting, or even to moan about how you’ve spent the past week agonizing over your decision. A brief and honest reason is the best approach for not accepting the offered position and it tops the list of how to turn down an offer letter politely.
For instance; After careful consideration, I have decided to accept a position at another company as it seems to match better with my job profile.
Or
While your offered position seems like a great opportunity for me, I have decided to pursue another role that will offer me more opportunities to pursue my interests with regard to marketing as well as social media.
3. Stay in Touch Even After your Job Search Ends
In the corporate world especially in certain industries, the space is very congested and small. So the art of offering some small pleasantries before you sign off is always a good idea. If there is any event you are mutually looking forward to attending with your hiring manager in the future, you should definitely plug it in, or if not, wishing them good luck is also a decent idea after having gone through the whole process of, “How to turn down a job offer politely”.
For Instance;
Dear Mr. Khanna,
Thank you so much for the offer to work as a software engineer in your reputed company. I very much enjoyed meeting both you and the development team last week.
However, I will have to decline the offer since the position isn’t a fit with my current career goals.
I wish you the best in your search for the perfect candidate, I’m sure they will be lucky to land this amazing opportunity. I’m cheered by the possibility of working at your company some time in the future. Would you be open to connecting on LinkedIn so we can keep in touch for the same?
Best regards,
XYZ
Final Note
In the corporate world, the power lies in the hands of the candidates as far as the job market is concerned. With the increase in self-initiated businesses, there is a lot of scope for employment.
This increases the chances of you stumbling upon this article on how to turn down a job offer politely, we are here at your rescue so that you don’t feel unsure about the right way to approach and navigate through the same.
Remember that If you haven’t signed a contract yet, there is absolutely no harm in backing out of a job that you accepted. Even if you have signed a contract, you may be able to get off the hook, the key being a good lawyer.