How Does an Offer Letter Work Forum

[Jinjuice]

Still waiting on my first offer since graduating last year. Hell, I'd be so excited to see one ; I'd probably shit my pants!

How does an offer letter actually work though? (I know I sound dumb, but I really am hoping to get one).

It just seems like the interviewer will have forgotten about me from the time of the interview to the offer even if it is two weeks. Do I need to remind the interviewer to send me an offer letter, or does it come in the mail automatically/e-mail? I just need to be persistent and follow-up right, but not ask for the offer letter. I'd just be so excited to see one honestly. Also, what does the offer letter state... I'm just worried the employer will actually not remember to send one from the time from meeting me to after two-three weeks later. I just feel like I need to remind them because they may get lazy.

Please offer your honest and sincere input on this matter. Thanks :]

[nixy]

I'm really confused by this. No, you don't need to remind employers to send an offer letter, they're not lazy, and interviewers are not going to forget about you, if they want to hire you. Most employers won't actually notify you of a job offer via letter; they'll call you up and offer you the job. They'll send you a letter at some later date (sometimes after you accept, sometimes before). If you've had an interview and haven't heard anything, you can contact the employer to find out if they've made a decision, but you need to give them some time and calling them up every day isn't going to work. No, when you do that you don't ask for an offer letter - you just ask if they've reached a decision yet.

[Jinjuice]

Sorry for the confusion. What I mean is I'm still waiting on my first job offer ever since I've graduated law school. I mean I've had interviews, but I have not received an offer at all. So when I receive my first offer, if ever, I know what to expect. When I said I'm still waiting on an offer, this is what I practically meant, that I'm unemployed, and still waiting for a job. lol.

Let's say they do call me. and say I got the job. But during the interview we never talked about salary.... Will they ask me about the salary upon making upon making the offer/upon/or after?

[nixy]

Oh, I get it. They likely won't ask you about salary, but will tell you the salary they're offering, when they make you the offer. You might be able to negotiate, but they will start out by telling you, not asking. But yes, they'll tell you the salary before you accept. You'll get info about the benefits too, though they might not address benefits in detail when they make the offer so much as provide you a way to access information with more detail. If they're giving you time to consider (they should), they'll give you a deadline for when they'll need to hear from you. That deadline might include a desired start date. Not sure there's much else - others will have to let me know if I'm forgetting anything.

[Wubbles]

Yeah, what nixy said. In short, after your callback when they decide to give you an offer, they will call yoy amd say they woild be happy to offer you a position yada yada yada and that someone will be sending you an offer letter to look over and sign and return if you wish to accept. They might mention salary over the phone generally, but the offer letter they email (or mail) you should include salary, maybe a few of the bigger benefits like 401k matching and free parking, etc. Pretty simple.

[Jinjuice]

Thanks.

I don’t think the callback part applies to me. Most solo to mid law practitioners don’t have the resources to do a callback, let alone can hardly afford a human resources generalist to facilitate as such. My OCI ship set sail a few years ago... you feel me?

My deal likely is, I go to the interview do my best and wait for the offer letter I suppose. Now, I know how I will get one and how to go about it and what to do if I do get one, so I’m not dazzled.

Any other tips or advice would be much appreciated. Also, thank you as well Nixy.

[nixy]

Well, you go to the interview and then wait to see if they call you and offer you the job, yes.

[cavalier1138]

I'm still a bit confused by this...

OP, have you had a job before? The process of being offered a job isn't significantly different in the legal world.

[Anonymous User]

sorry for the confusion. No bro, I've never had a "professional" job before. Only cashier, waiter, etc. I'm sure the offer process kind of differs a bit than these jobs. I'm K-JD too btw.


I'm still waiting on my first legal job offer. I've graduated since May of last year. I've had about 15-20 interviews and am waiting to hear back on a few. Just was asking, so I know how the offer process would work. I'm sending multiple apps a day and am still trying. I did a mock interview with career counseling last week and both of the counsellors said, I'm doing everything fine. I have enough experience and a competitive resume from a regional T1 (hence the interviews). The only thing I need to improve on is being more assertive in my interviews instead of listening more and not really selling myself to the interviewer. So, I'm trying that at the moment and actually trying to say more and sell myself more. That's what they said I need to improve on.

Also, when getting an offer letter what am I signing, other than terms and conditions? Sorry If I'm making this harder than it is.

Shit sorry for posting anonymously. I'm OP!

[Ultramar vistas]

sorry for the confusion. No bro, I've never had a "professional" job before. Only cashier, waiter, etc. I'm sure the offer process kind of differs a bit than these jobs. I'm K-JD too btw.


I'm still waiting on my first legal job offer. I've graduated since May of last year. I've had about 15-20 interviews and am waiting to hear back on a few. Just was asking, so I know how the offer process would work. I'm sending multiple apps a day and am still trying. I did a mock interview with career counseling last week and both of the counsellors said, I'm doing everything fine. I have enough experience and a competitive resume from a regional T1 (hence the interviews). The only thing I need to improve on is being more assertive in my interviews instead of listening more and not really selling myself to the interviewer. So, I'm trying that at the moment and actually trying to say more and sell myself more. That's what they said I need to improve on.

Also, when getting an offer letter what am I signing, other than terms and conditions? Sorry If I'm making this harder than it is.

Shit sorry for posting anonymously. I'm OP!

You are not signing anything.

You will receive a letter in the mail, anything from a couple of days to a couple of weeks after a successful interview (at least in the traditional OCI timeline) that simply says something along the lines of:

We are delighted to offer you a job at biglaw llp. The pay will be 190k a year or x per week. You will begin on x date. This offer is contingent on passing a background check and clearing conflicts.

They are not lazy. You do not need to follow up.

[Wubbles]

sorry for the confusion. No bro, I've never had a "professional" job before. Only cashier, waiter, etc. I'm sure the offer process kind of differs a bit than these jobs. I'm K-JD too btw.


I'm still waiting on my first legal job offer. I've graduated since May of last year. I've had about 15-20 interviews and am waiting to hear back on a few. Just was asking, so I know how the offer process would work. I'm sending multiple apps a day and am still trying. I did a mock interview with career counseling last week and both of the counsellors said, I'm doing everything fine. I have enough experience and a competitive resume from a regional T1 (hence the interviews). The only thing I need to improve on is being more assertive in my interviews instead of listening more and not really selling myself to the interviewer. So, I'm trying that at the moment and actually trying to say more and sell myself more. That's what they said I need to improve on.

Also, when getting an offer letter what am I signing, other than terms and conditions? Sorry If I'm making this harder than it is.

Shit sorry for posting anonymously. I'm OP!

You are not signing anything.

You will receive a letter in the mail, anything from a couple of days to a couple of weeks after a successful interview (at least in the traditional OCI timeline) that simply says something along the lines of:

We are delighted to offer you a job at biglaw llp. The pay will be 190k a year or x per week. You will begin on x date. This offer is contingent on passing a background check and clearing conflicts.

They are not lazy. You do not need to follow up.

Myself and many people I know had to sign our offer letters so I don't know what you are talking about in that first line

[Ultramar vistas]

sorry for the confusion. No bro, I've never had a "professional" job before. Only cashier, waiter, etc. I'm sure the offer process kind of differs a bit than these jobs. I'm K-JD too btw.


I'm still waiting on my first legal job offer. I've graduated since May of last year. I've had about 15-20 interviews and am waiting to hear back on a few. Just was asking, so I know how the offer process would work. I'm sending multiple apps a day and am still trying. I did a mock interview with career counseling last week and both of the counsellors said, I'm doing everything fine. I have enough experience and a competitive resume from a regional T1 (hence the interviews). The only thing I need to improve on is being more assertive in my interviews instead of listening more and not really selling myself to the interviewer. So, I'm trying that at the moment and actually trying to say more and sell myself more. That's what they said I need to improve on.

Also, when getting an offer letter what am I signing, other than terms and conditions? Sorry If I'm making this harder than it is.

Shit sorry for posting anonymously. I'm OP!

You are not signing anything.

You will receive a letter in the mail, anything from a couple of days to a couple of weeks after a successful interview (at least in the traditional OCI timeline) that simply says something along the lines of:

We are delighted to offer you a job at biglaw llp. The pay will be 190k a year or x per week. You will begin on x date. This offer is contingent on passing a background check and clearing conflicts.

They are not lazy. You do not need to follow up.

Myself and many people I know had to sign our offer letters so I don't know what you are talking about in that first line

You’re totally right - it’s been a while. I did sign mine. Can’t remember why though, as it’s all at will employment.

[icansortofmath]

I had to sign my letters.

I think it’s to give a sense of finality but it also has some stuff like giving back bonuses if you quit in less than a year or something like that.

[ur_hero]

For any sizeable firm - you will almost certainly know via phone beforehand whether or not you're receiving an offer. The persons responsible for hiring or managing the hiring process will call you to give you a heads up and get an idea of whether you accept and when you can start, what the salary offered is, etc. This is when you let them know if you need more time to decide, to discuss salary/benefits, etc. (if it's a big firm and you're coming in as a 1st year, then you probably just get what you get so I wouldn't think much about trying to negotiate). Then, it will be "formalized" via them sending you a letter summarizing those details you discussed that they ask you to sign and return.

With smaller firms or employers, there is probably a million different ways they do things. But most likely some combination of the above.