So, you’ve found yourself in a position where you need to turn down a job. Let’s walk through some steps to keep top of mind when politely — and professionally — declining a job offer.
1. Make sure you want to decline the offer
The first (and probably most important) step: make sure you want to say no. Changing jobs is a big life event — and the decision isn’t always an easy one.
Consider all factors of what it means to say no to the job offer, for example:
Would your pay or salary significantly increase?
How would accepting (or rejecting) impact your mental health and well-being?
What about workplace flexibility, remote, or hybrid work options?
Do you see yourself growing within the organization?
How well do your values align with the company values?
When I recently evaluated a career change, I wrote out all the pros, cons, and things I needed in my life — both personal and professional. It helped to see an evaluation on paper to be able to decide on whether or not a role was the right fit for me.
You might consider working one-on-one with a coach. A coach can help guide you through your decision-making process and challenge your thinking in ways you might not have imagined.
With personalized coaching, you can decide with confidence. After all, a new career brings on a whole new set of challenges and opportunities.
Be certain you want to say no before you decline. There’s rarely wiggle room if you change your mind.
2. Show appreciation and gratitude
Interviewing is a hefty, time-consuming process. It’s likely many folks invested a lot of time throughout your interview process. Recruiting takes a lot of work — from reviewing cover letters to interview panels to vetting sample projects. The offering company is excited about you and eager (and hopeful) for you to join the team.
Lead your declination with a sign of appreciation and gratitude. Make sure you thank the recruiting team and the hiring team for their time and thoughtfulness.
It’s never a bad idea to reiterate what you’ve learned from the process. By sharing your gratitude and learnings, you’re signaling to the company that you really took this opportunity seriously.
3. Keep the networking door open
Some of the best advice I’ve ever received from a mentor was this: “You’ll never know when your paths will cross in the future.”
Sometimes, timing is everything. For example, you could interview at your dream company for a role that you’re not super excited about. Or you be keeping your eye out for a different position in another region or location.
Keep the networking door open when you decline a job offer. It’s a good idea to offer to stay connected on LinkedIn, for example. You can also reiterate your interest in the company but say the position just wasn’t the right fit. It’s not too bold to say you’d be interested in future roles (if that’s the case) that may be more aligned with XYZ.
Whatever the case, look at the opportunity as a webbed network of future opportunities. Just because you’re saying no to a position now doesn’t mean you have to walk away from the company altogether.
4. Explain your decision
A simple “I’m declining this opportunity” won’t suffice. Especially if you’re interested in keeping that networking door open, it’s important to explain your decision. This is particularly true if everything is aligned except for the actual role — new roles may come up.
You can be transparent but you also don’t need to share details. For example, let’s say you’re declining a role because you’ve received another offer with a better compensation package, flexibility, and growth opportunities.
It’s good to share that information with a potential employer — but if you have private reasons for saying no, you can leave that out of your explanation.
In some ways, companies may not even know their job offers aren’t stacking up to others in the market without this tangible feedback. It’s important that companies understand the logical reasoning behind their declinations. By gathering this data, they can actually take the feedback to adjust their own hiring practices.
Collected from Betterup
