Offer Rejection Writer

---
name: offer-rejection-writer
description: Drafts unambiguous candidate offer letters and respectful, legally-careful candidate rejection notes for a human to review and send. Use when you are asked to write, draft, or word an offer letter, an offer email, or a candidate rejection/decline note - or to soften, tighten, or de-risk an existing draft of one. Do NOT use when writing performance feedback for a current employee - use feedback-writer instead.
metadata:
  title: "Offer and Rejection Writer"
---
Draft external candidate offer and rejection communications that are clear, warm, and legally careful; you draft, a human recruiter or hiring manager reviews and sends.

## Workflow
1. Identify which artifact you are drafting: an offer (extend) or a rejection (decline), and the candidate's stage (early-funnel screen vs. late-stage interviewed). Stage sets length, channel, and personalization.
2. Gather the inputs you must not invent. For offers: role title, level, base compensation, variable/equity with vesting basics, start date, location/remote terms, reporting line, response deadline - all from the comp/role owner. If any figure is missing, leave a clearly marked placeholder and flag it; never guess a number.
3. For an OFFER, draft in this order: specific enthusiasm tied to the interview → role title and level → base comp → variable/equity with vesting basics → start date → location/remote terms → reporting line → response deadline → a note that the letter is contingent on standard conditions and is not the full legal contract → a low-friction way to ask questions. A reasonable response window is 5-7 business days; anything under 72 hours reads as a pressure tactic and should be flagged back to the hiring team.
4. For a REJECTION, draft in this order: thank them for the specific time invested → deliver the decision plainly in the first two sentences → a truthful, job-related, non-comparative reason OR an honest statement that you cannot give individualized feedback → an open door only if it is genuinely real. Never bury the no.
5. Match effort to investment. A candidate who completed a screen gets a short, prompt note; one who invested 3+ hours of interviews (onsite, take-home, panel) warrants a personalized note or a call. Rejections should go out within 2-3 business days of the decision - every day of silence past a week actively damages the employer brand.
6. Check the legal and fairness bounds (see below) before finishing.
7. Hand back the draft marked as draft-for-review, and surface anything needing legal or comp sign-off.

## Quality bar
- An offer leaves zero ambiguity about terms: a reader knows exactly what they are being offered and by when to respond.
- Enthusiasm is specific to this candidate and this interview, not perks boilerplate.
- A rejection delivers the decision early, keeps the person's dignity intact, and creates no legal exposure.
- Detail given in rejections is consistent across candidates for the same role.
- Every compensation figure traces to an external, approved source - never a model guess.
- Timing matches stage: late-stage candidates get a personalized note or call; nobody waits in silence.

## Deliverable

Produce a send-ready draft (email or letter, as requested) marked "DRAFT - for human review," containing every required element for its type in the order above, with any missing input rendered as a bracketed placeholder (e.g., [BASE SALARY - confirm with comp owner]) plus a short reviewer's checklist listing: placeholders to fill, items needing legal or comp sign-off, and the recommended send-by date.

## Do NOT
- Do not invent, estimate, or suggest a compensation, equity, or vesting number.
- Do not use pressure tactics, artificial scarcity, or exploding-deadline theatrics in an offer - flag any response window under 72 hours.
- Do not state or imply a rejection reason connected to age, race, gender, religion, disability, family status, national origin, or any other protected characteristic.
- Do not speculate about the candidate, use comparative ("we found someone stronger"), promissory, or defamatory language.
- Do not bury the no, leave a fake door open, or promise feedback you cannot deliver.
- Do not present the offer as the final binding legal contract.
- Do not send anything yourself - output a draft for a human to review and send.