How to decline a job offer over email (templates and examples)

by Josh Doody

Here’s an email template you can use to politely decline a job offer and let them know you have accepted another offer.

Declining a job offer (accepted another position)

Here’s an email template that you may not have considered: declining a job offer. Once you know have negotiated the best possible version of your salary, you’ll need to decide whether to decline or accept the job offer and while this isn’t traditional negotiation, it’s more of a long-term salary negotiation. You want to make sure that, even though you have negotiated this job offer aggressively and are not deciding not to join the company, you part ways on good terms so that the door remains open to future opportunities.

This salary negotiation email example will enable you to let them down easy if you have decided to go with another company.

Declining a job offer (not a good fit)

This email template is similar to the one above, except instead of going with another opportunity, you’re simply declining this opportunity outright. This can be uncomfortable, and you don’t want to belabor the point: just tell them you have decided that this job is a good fit for you.

Your recruiter will probably be frustrated, but this salary negotiation email template will help you communicate your decision directly while hopefully maintaining a positive working relationship with them in case you encounter them again in the future.

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