Creating & Sending Offer Letters

Sending offer letters directly from a candidate's profile in Trakstar Hire provides a streamlined experience for both your recruiting team and your candidates. Keeping the entire offer process within Trakstar Hire creates a complete hiring record, reduces manual work, and supports a paperless workflow.

Tip: Enroll in our eLearning course for a guided walkthrough, or continue reading for detailed setup instructions.

Enroll in our eLearning course or scroll down to learn more!

Summary

Before sending an offer letter:

• Confirm the candidate has reached the appropriate stage in your hiring process.
• Verify that all offer details are accurate.
• If you use Offer Letter Templates, ensure the appropriate template has been created.
• Review any placeholders to confirm they will populate correctly.

Setting Up the Offer Letter

• Set Up Offer Placeholders
• Create an Offer Letter Template
• Create an Email Template
• Set Up an Approval Workflow
• Create Offer Stages on Openings

Sending a Candidate an Offer Letter

• Generate an Offer
• Offer Letter Approval
• Signing the Offer Letter
• Canceling an Offer Letter

Additional Resources

• Offer Letter Best Practices

Setting Up the Offer Letter

Before sending your first offer letter, you'll need to configure your account. This setup only needs to be completed once and includes creating placeholders, templates, and (optionally) an approval workflow.

Set Up Offer Placeholders

Offer Letter Templates use placeholders to automatically insert information from the candidate profile, job opening, and offer details into the final document.

For example, placeholders can populate information such as:

• Candidate name
• Opening title
• Salary
• Start date
• Company name
• Custom offer information

Using placeholders allows you to create reusable templates that can be used across multiple openings and candidates without editing the document each time.

Many organizations create multiple templates for different:

• Departments
• Job roles
• Office locations
• Employment types (Full-Time, Part-Time, etc.)

Any Super Admin can create and manage offer placeholders and templates. Once configured, any user with permission to email candidates can send offer letters from either the candidate profile or an Offer stage.

To begin:

1. Navigate to Settings > Offer Settings > Offer Placeholders.

Create a Custom Placeholder

If you need additional information in your offer letters, you can create custom placeholders.

1. Click Add Placeholder.

For each placeholder, provide:

• Label – The prompt users will see when generating an offer letter.
• Placeholder – The merge field that will be inserted into the offer letter template.
• Type – The format used when entering the value during offer generation (for example, text, number, or date).

After entering the information, click Add Placeholder to save.

Important: Placeholders are case-sensitive.

All placeholders must:

• Be written entirely in lowercase.
• Use double curly braces ({{ }}    ).
• Match the placeholder name exactly in both the placeholder settings and the Offer Letter Template.

Failure to follow this formatting prevents the placeholder from being recognized when the offer letter is generated.

Create an Offer Letter Template

Once your placeholders have been configured, you're ready to build your Offer Letter Templates.

Navigate to:

Settings > Offer Settings > Offer Templates

From this page you can:

• View all existing Offer Letter Templates.
• See who created each template.
• Edit existing templates.
• Access your Offer Placeholders.

To create a new template:

1. Click Create Offer Template.
2. Enter a Template Name.
3. (Optional) Add a description.
4. Select the Offer Signatory.

The Offer Signatory is the internal user who will sign the offer letter on behalf of your organization.

Upload Your Offer Letter

Next, upload the DOCX version of your offer letter.

You can:

• Upload an existing company offer letter.
• Modify an existing template by adding placeholders.
• Use a sample offer letter as a starting point.

Note: Offer Letter Templates must be uploaded in DOCX format.

If a Placeholder Isn't Recognized

If a placeholder is not highlighted:

Confirm that:

• The placeholder exists in your account.
• You're using double curly braces ({{ }}    ), not square brackets.
• The placeholder is written entirely in lowercase.
• The placeholder name exactly matches the configured placeholder.

If necessary:

1. Remove the uploaded document.
2. Correct the placeholder formatting.
3. Upload the document again.

You can also select View All Offer Placeholders to review available placeholders or create additional ones.

When everything looks correct, click Save and Proceed.

Create an Email Template

After creating the Offer Letter Template, create the email that will deliver the offer letter to the candidate.

Like other Email Templates in Trakstar Hire, Offer Letter emails can include merge fields that automatically personalize the message.

Navigate to:

Settings > Email Templates

Create a new template or edit an existing one.

Be sure to include the required merge field:

{{offer-letter-link}}    

This placeholder inserts the secure link candidates use to review and electronically sign their offer letter.

You can also include other supported merge fields, such as:

• Candidate name
• Company name
• Opening title
• Additional personalized information

When you're finished, click Save and Proceed.

Pro Tip: Review your email content for words or phrases that could trigger spam filters. Well-written emails are more likely to arrive in a candidate's primary inbox instead of their spam folder.

Set Up an Approval Workflow

Offer Letter Templates can include an approval workflow that requires one or more users to approve an offer before it is sent to the candidate.

Approval workflows are useful when managers, directors, HR leaders, or other stakeholders must review compensation or offer details before an offer is delivered.

By default, approval workflows are disabled.

To enable an approval workflow:

1. Open the Offer Letter Template.
2. Locate the Approval Workflow section.
3. Enable the workflow by switching the toggle from Disabled to Enabled.

Once enabled, add the users who should approve the offer.

You can configure up to three approval levels.

Each approval level may contain multiple approvers, but only one user from each level must approve before the offer moves to the next level.

If additional approval levels are needed:

1. Click Add one more level of approvers.
2. Select the users for the new level.

Create Offer Stages on Openings

After creating your Offer Letter Template, you can add it directly to an opening's hiring workflow using an Offer stage.

Offer stages are typically one of the final stages in the hiring process and allow recruiters to generate and send offer letters without leaving the candidate's profile.

To add an Offer stage:

1. Open the job opening.
2. Select Job Settings.
3. In the Hiring Stages section, click + Add a New Stage.

Select the  Offer stage as the stage type.

Configure the stage by entering:

• Stage Name – An internal name used by your hiring team.
• Coordinator – The user responsible for sending the offer letter.
• Offer Template – The Offer Letter Template that should be used when candidates reach this stage.

After completing the setup, click Save.

The Offer stage now becomes part of the hiring workflow for that opening, allowing recruiters to generate offer letters directly from the stage.

Tip: Learn more about interview, review, and other hiring stage types in the article about configuring hiring stages.

Sending a Candidate an Offer Letter

Once your Offer Template and Offer Stage have been configured, you're ready to send an offer.

There are two ways to generate an offer:

• Move the candidate into the Offer stage and click Generate an Offer.
• Open the candidate's profile and select the Offer tab to create or view an offer at any time.

Generate an Offer

When you generate an offer, Trakstar Hire displays all of the placeholders from your Offer Letter Template as editable fields.

Some information is automatically populated from the candidate's profile or job opening, while other fields can be completed or updated before sending.

For example, you may choose to update:

• A candidate's legal name instead of a nickname.
• Salary information.
• Start date.
• Custom placeholder values.

After reviewing all information:

1. Click Preview Offer Letter.

The preview displays the completed document exactly as the candidate will receive it.

If changes are needed:

• Click Back to return to the previous screen and edit the information.

If everything looks correct:

• Click Save and Proceed.

You'll now be able to edit the message sent with the offer letter to the candidate.  This will pull the email template associated with the offer letter, but you can make edits and changes if you'd like.  You can also select from other templates in the top right corner.  When you're done, click on Send for approval.

If no approval levels are set, it will go directly to the candidate.

If approval levels are set, it will auto-send to the candidate once the approvers have signed off on the offer.

Next, you'll review the email that accompanies the offer letter.

The email automatically uses the template associated with the Offer Letter Template, but you can:

• Edit the message.
• Select a different email template.
• Customize the content before sending.

When you're ready:

• Click Send for Approval.

If no approval workflow has been configured, the offer is sent directly to the candidate.

If an approval workflow is enabled, the offer is automatically routed through the approval process before being delivered.

To monitor the offer at any time, open the candidate's Offer tab.

Offer Letter Approval

If your Offer Letter Template includes an approval workflow, the offer is sent to the designated approvers before it is delivered to the candidate.

Each approver receives:

• An email notification requesting approval.
• A notification on their Trakstar Hire Dashboard.
• A copy of the offer letter as an attachment.

The approval request also includes key information from the offer placeholders and provides options to:

• Approve the offer.
• Suggest Changes.
• View the Candidate's Profile.

Approve an Offer Letter

Approvers can review the offer letter and choose to approve it.

When an approval is submitted:

• The offer moves to the next approval level (if applicable).
• Only one approver per level is required before the offer advances.
• Once the final approval level has approved the offer, it is automatically routed to the designated Offer Signatory.

Request Changes

If an approver identifies information that should be updated before the offer is sent, they can choose Suggest Changes.

When changes are requested:

• The approval process stops.
• The requested changes are recorded as private comments in the candidate's profile.
• The recruiter updates the offer as needed.
• The approval workflow restarts from Level 1, regardless of which approval level requested the changes.

This ensures every approver reviews the final version of the offer before it is sent.

Note: Any requested changes restart the approval process from the beginning.

Approval Notifications

Once all required approvals have been completed:

• The recruiter who generated the offer receives an email notification.
• The offer is automatically routed to the internal Offer Signatory.

No additional action is required from the recruiter unless further edits are needed.

Signing the Offer Letter

After the approval process is complete, the offer is sent to the designated Offer Signatory.

The Offer Signatory can review and sign the offer by:

• Opening the email notification, or
• Navigating to the Offer tab in the candidate's profile.

Once the internal signature has been completed:

• The candidate receives the Offer Letter email.
• The email contains the secure link generated by the {{offer-letter-link}}     placeholder.
• The email is sent from the user who initiated the offer process.
• A copy of the email is recorded in the candidate's Emails tab and marked as Private.

Candidate Signs the Offer

The candidate reviews the offer letter using the secure link provided in the email.

After signing:

• A note indicating the candidate has accepted the offer appears on their profile.
• The completed, signed Offer Letter is available from the Offer tab.
• Recruiters can download the final signed copy at any time.
• A copy of the signed offer is emailed to the candidate.
• The recruiter who initiated the offer receives a notification confirming the completed signature.

Cancel an Offer Letter

Offer Letters may be edited or canceled while they are still in the approval process.

Offer Letters may also be canceled at any time before the candidate signs the document.

To cancel an offer:

1. Open the candidate's Offer tab.
2. Open the active offer.
3. Select the option to cancel the offer.

Important: Once a candidate has signed an Offer Letter, the offer is considered complete and can no longer be edited or canceled.

Best Practices

• Configure Offer Placeholders before creating Offer Letter Templates.
• Always use the required system placeholders exactly as provided.
• Upload Offer Letter Templates in DOCX format.
• Preview every offer before submitting it for approval.
• Use an approval workflow when offers require management or HR review.
• Assign the appropriate Offer Signatory for each template.
• Make sure the {{offer-letter-link}}     placeholder is inculded in every Offer Letter email template.
• Review suggested changes carefully before restarting the approval process.
• Keep all offer communication within Trakstar Hire to maintain a complete hiring record.
• Download and retain signed Offer Letters as needed for your organization's records.

Got a question about this process? We are here to help.  Reach out to us at hire@trakstar.com