You have clinched the interview, and the recruiters are impressed enough to give you verbal assurance of getting the job.

But don't go out celebrating just yet. There is one crucial step left - actually getting the 'job offer' letter, and you returning that letter signed and sealed, cementing the contract with your new employer.

Other names

The job offer letter, also known as the employment letter, contract of employment, or employment agreement, is a formal letter inviting a candidate to accept a specific post, and once it is signed and returned to the employer, constitutes an agreement between the employee and employer that specifies the terms of employment.

What should a job offer letter include? A simple answer is some basic terms and conditions of the job offer.

The job offer letter often includes as well, any agreed-upon deviations from regular company policy; period of notice required for either party to end the contract; any conditions applied to the offer, for example, passing a mandatory medical examination or drug screen; and space for the employee to sign the copy of the letter which will be returned to the company as proof of acceptance.

It may also include a confidentiality statement or agreement. This may also be a separate document which must also be signed and returned with the signed copy of the employment letter.

It's your duty as the new employee to ensure that the letter has all the terms you negotiated for prior to commencement of employment.

The days of the 'gentlemen's agreement' are long gone, so if special provisions were discussed and promised to you, these must be stated in the job offer letter, else there's no agreement. If it's not written, it never happened.

Patricia Grant-Kitson is a human resource management and training consultant.