How to decline a job offer politely (with email templates)

Decide first, on take-home pay

People sometimes decline the wrong offer. Two salaries a few thousand dollars apart land closer than the headline suggests. Take a gap of $3,000: in the 33% tax band, at 2026/27 rates with ACC at 1.75% and KiwiSaver at 3.5%, it is about $71 a fortnight in hand, or $57 with a student loan. A longer commute or a smaller employer KiwiSaver contribution can wipe out a gap that size entirely.

So before you write the email, put both offers side by side on the same basis. That means take-home pay each fortnight, the cost of getting to work, leave, flexibility, and any extras that have a real dollar value. The Offer Comparer does the after-tax sums for two offers with no account, so you can see what each one pays in hand before you choose.

If the numbers are close, the deciding factors are usually the ones that are hard to price: the manager, the work itself, and what the role leads to. It is worth writing those down too, so the decision is one you can explain to yourself in six months.

The two-paragraph email

A phone call is the warmest way to decline, especially if you met the hiring manager in person. Follow it with a short email so there is a record. If email is all you have, that is fine. The message needs only two paragraphs:

If you are declining because of the pay or the fit rather than another offer, change the last clause of the first paragraph: "as the role is not quite the right fit for me at this stage" works for either, and says no more than it needs to.

Three things make it work. The decision is in the first paragraph, so nobody has to read between the lines. The reason is short and gives nothing away that could cause trouble later. And the second paragraph is specific enough to show it was written for them.

If the offer failed on pay and you would have accepted at a different number, say so once, politely, before you decline. Some employers can move. Once you have declined, reopening the conversation is much harder.

Declining after you have accepted

Sometimes a better offer arrives after you have said yes. It happens, and it can be handled well, but it needs care.

Once you have accepted an offer, you can count as an employee under the Employment Relations Act 2000 even before your first day, because the Act's definition of an employee includes a person who has been offered and has accepted work. Your agreement's notice clause may apply, so read it before you do anything. Our guide to job offers and employment agreements explains what you are agreeing to when you sign, and Employment New Zealand can tell you how the law as it stands applies to you.

Then tell the employer quickly, by phone first. Every day you wait makes it harder for them to go back to their second choice. Keep the explanation honest and brief:

Expect the conversation to be uncomfortable. Stay polite, do not argue the merits, and follow up in writing the same day.

Keeping the door open

New Zealand is a small market. The recruiter you decline this month may be hiring for the perfect role next year, and hiring managers move between employers, so how you decline is worth getting right.

A few habits help:

• Answer before the deadline, even if the answer is no.
• Decline by a person-to-person message, never by silence.
• Connect on LinkedIn with the people you met, if the process went well.
• If a recruiter was involved, tell them first and thank them properly. They put in work on your behalf.

If they ask why, a general reason such as the scope of the role, the location or timing is enough. You do not owe anyone the other employer's name or salary.

Closing the job on your board with the real reason

Once you have declined, close the application in your records and write down the real reason, even if it is not the one you gave them. Pay too low, commute too long, manager did not feel right, took another offer: each is useful later.

In jobtracker.co.nz you close a job with its reason, such as “I declined”, “They declined” or “Accepted another offer”, and your own note, so the pattern builds up without a separate list.

Over a few months, those reasons show you a pattern. If you keep declining on pay, you can set a firmer floor before you apply. If you keep declining on commute, you can filter by location from the start. Keeping that record makes the next decision faster and easier to explain.

Keep the offer letter too, with its salary and conditions. If the same employer approaches you again, or you want to know what the market was paying for your role, it is the most accurate figure you will have.

With On the Move, the offer letter can be kept in Documents against the job it belongs to.

Keep every offer and decision on record