Responding to a job offer, in writing
A verbal yes is a conversation; a written acceptance is a record. Whether you are accepting or declining, the letter exists to make the outcome and the terms unambiguous, and to leave the relationship intact.
Accept in writing, even after a verbal yes
The written acceptance is where you restate the role, the start date, and the agreed salary. If anything was misheard or misremembered on either side, this is the moment it surfaces, before you have resigned from anything.
Restate the key terms
Name the title, the start date, and the base salary as you understand them. This is not distrust, it is hygiene: offers pass through recruiters, hiring managers, and HR systems, and a one-line restatement catches transcription errors while they are still cheap to fix.
Declining without burning the bridge
Thank them for the offer and the time, decline clearly, give at most one neutral clause of reason, and leave the door open. Recruiters change companies and hiring managers remember graceful declines. The candidate pool is smaller than it looks.
Reasons: brief and neutral
You owe courtesy, not a report. "I have accepted another offer" or "it is not the right fit right now" is complete. A detailed critique of the role, the team, or the offer helps no one and can only age badly.
A decline is not a negotiation
If you want a better offer, negotiate before you answer, openly. Sending a decline and hoping they come back with more money reads exactly like what it is, and when it works it starts the job on a sour note. A decline should be final.
Backing out after accepting
Legally, in most US at-will employment, you can withdraw an acceptance. Reputationally it is expensive: the company has closed the search and told other candidates no. Decide fully before you sign, not after.
