Accept in this order: confirm the final terms in writing, sign the official offer letter, and only then resign from your current job. Never resign on a verbal offer — offers do occasionally evaporate between the phone call and the paperwork. Your acceptance email should name the key terms and your confirmed start date.
The iron rule of accepting: nothing you can't screenshot counts. A verbal offer is an intention; an offer letter with compensation, title, level, start date, and contingencies is a commitment. Between the two sit approvals, background checks, and the occasional hiring freeze — and every recruiter has a story about the gap. Resigning before the paperwork exists converts a small company-side wobble into your personal emergency.
If negotiation happened, check the letter reflects the final terms — negotiated signing bonuses and revised bases have a way of missing the first draft. Reply listing anything wrong; signing a letter that contradicts the verbal agreement resets your leverage to zero.
Keep it short and specific: "I'm delighted to accept the senior engineer offer at a base of 145,000 with the 15,000 signing bonus and a start date of October 6, per the letter. Signed copy attached. Really looking forward to joining — let me know next steps on onboarding." Restating the numbers isn't distrust; it's the cheap insurance of one more written record agreeing with the letter.
Confirm the start date honestly against your notice period, and build in a real gap — even a week between jobs matters more than it seems from the near side. Employers wait months for the right candidate; they will wait one more week for a rested one.
Resign only after signing — a separate conversation with its own etiquette — and give exactly the notice your contract requires, delivered as a decision rather than an opening bid. Then complete the new employer's contingencies promptly: background check forms, references, right-to-work documents. Offers listing contingencies aren't final until those clear, which is one more reason the resignation follows the signature.
Stay warmly in touch with your new manager or recruiter during a long notice period — a check-in note halfway through keeps you real to a team that's meanwhile fielding other pressures. And keep your other active processes informed: withdrawing gracefully from pipelines you're abandoning is the same bridge-keeping that got you multiple options this time.
Don't. Resign only after you've signed a written offer and, ideally, contingencies like background checks are underway or cleared. Verbal offers occasionally evaporate through freezes or approval failures, and resignation is irreversible.
The role, the key terms — base, bonus, equity, level — the confirmed start date, and the signed letter attached. Restating terms creates one more written record and surfaces any mismatch with what was negotiated before it matters.
As much as your finances and the employer's flexibility allow — a week minimum if you can. Companies that waited months for the right candidate will wait days for a rested one, and start-date flexibility is usually the easiest ask.
Signed and set? Keep the resume that got you here updated while the wins are fresh — the free scorer will show you where the new role strengthens it.
