- 1). Respond promptly with your regrets. Once the offer has been extended, don’t leave a potential employer waiting to hear back from you; understand that they’ll need time to find a qualified person to fill the vacant position. Also keep in mind not responding promptly can reflect poorly on your professionalism and reliability, as well as negatively affect your ability to leave the door open.
- 2). Begin your rejection with a compliment. Name specific aspects of the company, organization, interviewer or interview process that you appreciated or admired. Although you’re turning the job down, leave the impression that you enjoyed a positive experience with the company.
- 3). Remain vague about why you decided to turn down the offer, especially if your reasons involve company politics, misgivings about potential coworkers or accepting another job because of greater pay. Recognize that the company might take offense to your reasoning, which may prevent them from offering you another position in the future. Give a diplomatic, nonspecific reason, such as, “I appreciate the wonderful opportunity, but I’ve decided to go in a different direction.” Don’t say anything that could potentially burn your bridges.
- 4). Express your regrets. Make it seem as though turning down the offer was a difficult decision that you weighed heavily.
- 5). Keep the correspondence short. Don’t drag the conversation out or flaunt your decision. The longer you engage, the more you run the risk of allowing specific details regarding your reasoning to slip. State your decision, then politely end the conversation.
- 6). Wish the company, organization and interviewer well in their future endeavors. End the correspondence on a positive, optimistic note.
- 7). Leave the door open on your end. Say something to make it plain that, although you can’t accept the offer right now, you’d still appreciate the opportunity at a later date. For example, “I’m sorry this didn’t work out. I hope we can work together in the future.”
SHARE
