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Congrats! You made it through Part 1 and you survived. Every offer letter should include all of the clauses, agreements, and contingencies that we have gone over and the next parts you will learn here in Part 2.
If your offer letter has them all, then you will be able to understand each of them clearly and move forward in your career with confidence. However, if your letter is missing any of these clauses, then take note and reach out to the Human Resources person you are working and bring it up with them. Make sure that you are getting the most out of every offer, and know exactly where you’re headed.
1. Per Diem – By the day; per day.2. At-will – Describes a working environment in which employers arefree to terminate employees at any time, without cause, explanation, or prior warning, provided it does not violate state and federal antidiscrimination laws.
You should receive a description of the types of benefits you’re eligible for, including medical insurance, vacation, sick leave, holidays, and travel reimbursement. These are standard company benefits. Additionally,whether you will be doing hybrid or remote work, whether you have PTO, and any per diem that you receive should be included, alongside everything else that you have negotiated for.
9
Explore your benefits
section.
10
Analyze yourcompany s policies isessential.
Here, you will find the clause that lists your adherence to company policies. You will usually receive a handbook of these policies close to your start date. This should state that your employment is subject to the policies and procedures of the company; in other words, all the rules you will need to follow to keep your job. HR will provide you with this and go over the terms. By signing the signature page, you agree you have read, understand, and consent to the policies. Unless you have read the handbook with HR and understand it clearly, do not sign yet! If you have not been given your handbook, don’t worry, just ask them to provide one.
11
Familiarize yourself withthe at-will employmentclause.
At-will employment is the popular recommendation, and the way that most jobs operate. The offer letter should include an explanation of the relationship termination ability. It will explain that you can leave at anytime, but can also be terminated at any time, although this is not often something to fret over. The upside is that, if you aren’t satisfied with the position, you aren’t forced to stay there you can always leave at will.
12
Understandconfidentiality andinvention assignmentagreements.
This clause prohibits team members from using unauthorized information. This information can include documents from previous employers or any other third parties. This part of the offer letter will also have you disclose any employment restrictions for example, non competition or non solicitation agreements with former employers.
13
Review your prior
employer confidential
information and
restrictions.
14
Deal withcontingencies in youroffer letter.
Offer letters usually lay out that employment is dependent on a few prerequisites: a background check, reference, and proof of your right to work in the United States. But don’t worry, these won’t dive too deeply into your past. But I can’t promise your company won’t discover your dark past if you have one. Additionally, if you prep your references in the way that we went over before, it will all go by much smoother.
Hot Tip # 1:
Clarify your at-will employment in your offer letter, so you are not stuck to this company. Go through your handbook with HR. Make sure you understand all of it thoroughly before signing, and don’t be afraid of asking questions.
Do:
Hire your attorney to make sure everything you negotiated is in your offer letter and you are in full awareness of what you are signing up for.
Don’t:
Don’t disregard any detail of your work assignment,pay, benefits, or duties. Every little detail matters! Even though it might be tedious and brain melting to read all that professional legalese, you will be thankful later.
It’s time to bust out your journal and work on this exercise!
For the final 6 Must Haves, these are things you should also include in your offer letters. Your eligible beneficial categories will help you in your negotiations. Getting at-will employment allows you to leave the company on your terms. Remember, you can leave if they do not meet your wants. The company may have you agree to their right of ownership to all your workings. But they will be required to keep the company’s information confidential. Setting up your background may also be required to include in your offer letter.
“In case you missed it during Week 2, download this PDF file to your computer and save it in a folder titled “Career Changers. Every week, you can use this PDF file to journal your exercises!”