A verbal offer is the employer saying they want to hire you before the terms are in writing. It's good news and an incomplete one: a number you only heard on a call is hard to check or point to later. To ask when the letter is coming, send one email to the person who made the offer and ask for three things: a date for the letter, what still has to happen before it's sent, and a confirmation of the terms you discussed.
This post is about the gap between the call and the letter. Once the letter arrives, how long you have to accept covers the deadline, and should I accept the job offer? covers the decision.
The three things to ask for
1. A date. "When can I expect the written offer?" gets you a day, or at least tells you that nobody knows yet. A date also gives you a reason to follow up later without guessing.
2. What still has to happen. Letters often wait on something: a compensation approval, a background or reference check, a signature from someone senior. Ask what's pending. It tells you whether the wait is paperwork or a decision someone still has to make.
3. The terms you discussed. Write back what you heard: salary, title, start date, and anything you negotiated. If something is wrong, it's easier to fix now than after the letter is drafted.
If you get all three, you have a date to plan around, their account of what's still pending, and a written record of the terms as you understood them. Their answer covers what they know and choose to share, so it won't show you everything happening inside the company.
An email you can adapt
Thank you again for the call today. I'm glad to hear you'd like me to join. To make sure I have it right: [salary], [title], starting [date], [anything else you agreed]. Could you tell me when I can expect the written offer, and whether anything still needs to happen before it's sent?
Send it to the person who made the offer, the same day if you can. One email is enough to start. If the date they give passes, follow up and ask again what is still pending. If the date keeps slipping, that tells you the wait is longer than planned, not why.
What a delay can and can't tell you
When the letter is late, it's tempting to read the delay as a signal. A delay is compatible with several situations, and they call for different moves.
The wait is administrative. An approval or a check is in progress. You wait, follow up on the date they gave, and keep your other options open in the meantime.
The terms are being reworked. Someone above the recruiter is questioning the number or the level. The letter may arrive with different terms. Your recap email is what lets you see the difference.
The plans changed. The role was paused or another candidate came back. That happens, and a verbal offer doesn't stop it.
You can't tell these apart from the delay alone. The answer to "what still has to happen?" is the best information you're likely to get, and it points you to what to check next.
A made-up example, not a QuickInsight session. Lucía gets a verbal offer on a Thursday call. She sends the recap that evening and asks when the letter will come. The recruiter answers that compensation needs one more approval and she should have it by Wednesday. Wednesday passes. She writes once more and learns the approval came back with a lower number. The letter arrives on Friday with a salary 6% below what she'd been told. Because her recap is in the thread, she can point to the figure that was offered and ask what changed.
Until the letter arrives, treat the terms as unconfirmed
No letter doesn't mean no agreement. Depending on where you are, an offer you accepted out loud can already count as an agreement; in the UK, for example, once you accept an unconditional offer, even only out loud, you have a contract. What you're missing is a written version of the terms that you can check and point to, and until you have it they can still shift. So keep treating the waiting period as part of the search.
- Keep your other interviews moving. Pausing them gives up options while the terms are still unconfirmed.
- Don't resign from your current job yet. Wait until the offer is in writing with the terms you agreed and its conditions are cleared.
- If another employer is moving fast, tell them you have an offer pending and ask about their timeline. You don't owe either side the details of the other.
The position you're deciding from
How hard to push for the letter, and how long to wait, depends on your position. Are other processes still live, or is this the only one? Could you absorb it if the offer changed or disappeared? Is your current job still there to stay in? If this offer is one of several, a slow letter is an inconvenience. If it's the only one and you're already out of work, the same delay is a real exposure.
The email above gets you facts about the offer. It doesn't tell you how much this particular offer should weigh against everything else you have.
A Position Audit reads your career the way an investor reads a position. It asks what you really have, what you might be overestimating, what's working against you, and what you can still change before you move. You get a clearer view of what you can count on, where you're exposed, and what to check or improve before you act.
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FAQ
How do I ask when I'll receive the offer letter?
Email the person who made the offer and ask for three things: a date for the letter, what still has to happen before it's sent, and a confirmation of the terms you discussed. A short recap of salary, title and start date lets them correct anything before the letter goes out. If the date they give passes, follow up.
Is it rude to ask when the offer letter is coming?
No. You're asking for the document your decision depends on. Keep it short, thank them for the offer, and ask for a date rather than asking them to hurry.
Does a delayed offer letter mean the offer is in trouble?
Not by itself. A delay can come from an internal approval, a background check or a busy recruiter, and it can also come from a change of plans. The delay doesn't tell you which. Asking what still has to happen before the letter is sent gets you their account, which helps, though it may not cover everything going on inside the company.
Should I stop interviewing while I wait for the letter?
Usually not, at least until the letter arrives with the terms you agreed. The terms can still change before they're in writing. Keep your other processes moving, and resign from your current job only once the offer is in writing and its conditions are cleared.
QuickInsight is informational only. It is not medical, legal, financial, or other regulated advice. If you are in crisis, get human help first.