At some point in time everyone will have to turn down a job offer. It may not be often that you need to turn a job down. Still, you should know how to go about doing it. Although there could be many reasons why you need to decline the offer, the point is how you decline the offer. You should decline with graciousness and kindness. After all there is no need to burn bridges that you may later need to cross.
Once you have decided that you need to turn down a job it should be done quickly. Make the phone call to the hiring manager or whomever you interviewed with and tell them that after carefully considering the offer that you feel that the job was not a good fit for you at that time. Although you may be tempted to say that the pay was too low or you did not care for the management, it is best to keep it tactful. You should then follow up with a letter stating that you appreciate the offer. State again that the job was not a good fit for you at that time. When writing the letter be sure to include in the first line or so the job that you applied for and the description so that they will know to which job you actually applied for.
However convenient that email may be, do not send a refusal through email. It is best if you are calm and collected. Try not to sound guilty when you refuse the job. Hiring personnel would have no problems telling you if you were not a good fit, give them the same courtesy. No matter how much you may want to tell a hiring manager about the job you have accepted, do not. And if you feel pressed into telling him, keep reiterating that the job was not a good fit. It is best to keep in clean.







