I am working in a Start up company. Usually my company will not give offer letter for employees at the time of Employment. I got a good offer from MNC and they have asked for Offer Letter.

When I asked my Company about it, they said offer Letter will be provided only at the time of relieving. I am really worried. I told this to MNC's HR and he said he will send verbal offer letter to me.

But I am afraid what it will be. Will it almost like Offer Letter and they will ask me to upload all the certification documents or is it just an intimation?

If I don't get joined in that MNC I will again search for a job without working which will be again hilarious.

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    I'm assuming you are in India, and I'll add that tag. Please remove it if I am wrong. You may get some confusion in the answers, because in the West an "offer letter" is something a potential employer sends to a candidate to say they want to employ them. You might like to explain what an "offer letter" means here. – DJClayworth Jul 22 '15 at 15:01
  • @DJClayworth That's also what an offer letter means here in India. I would be highly suspicious of any company which expects me to "accept" their offer without providing a written offer letter first. – Masked Man Jul 22 '15 at 15:33
  • @Vigneshwarani In future, don't accept an offer if the company doesn't provide a written offer letter. A verbal offer means nothing. What would you do, for example, if the company "verbally" offered you ₹N, but only paid you ₹N/2 after you joined? – Masked Man Jul 22 '15 at 15:37
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    Regardless of Masked Man's comments, I get the feeling what you call an Offer Letter isn't the same thing as I, and what you call a Start Up isn't the same as me. – CGCampbell Jul 22 '15 at 16:25
  • @CGCampbell Actually I too think that what OP calls an offer letter is different from what I have in mind. The standard practice here is the company first sends the offer letter, then the candidate accepts or rejects it. The rejection sometimes leads to a salary negotiation, and if the company agrees, they send a revised offer letter. I have never come across any case where offer letter is given after the employee resigns. – Masked Man Jul 23 '15 at 1:58

This may vary from country to country or even employer to employer. Usually a verbal offer is just a verbal commitment to hire you at a set salary, assuming everything works out in the transition. In your case when you get your relieving letter, along with whatever else your new employer is looking for.

So in one case of mine, I received a verbal offer from my hiring manager. It was just that, verbal. He told me they will make a formal offer once all my background checks clear (verification of employment, drug test, full application, etc.).

My verbal offer consisted of the proposed salary and a start date. That was it. My formal offer was in writing, was binding, and my employer offered links to their benefits etc. at that time.

Sometimes, although not necessarily in every case, employers will make a verbal offer because they know it is the opening shot in a negotiation and they don't want to do all the paperwork of a full offer until they know you will accept that.

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    I don't think this is correct. Based on the question, it seems like an offer letter is something that you get when you leave a company, not something that you get when you join. This answer sounds true for the US, but probably isn't what is being asked about (from what I can tell). – Thomas Owens Jul 22 '15 at 15:03
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    In India, you often get what is called a "Relieving Letter" which is basically an offer letter at the end of your tenure saying what your salary, benefits, start and end times were (and most importantly that you no longer hold a legal obligation to the company relieving you.) You don't get that until you are truly released from the company, which is why the new company OP is applying to wants the Offer Letter, since they know they can't get a Relieving Letter until OP leaves, but they should be able to get the Offer Letter now (if it exists, naturally.) – corsiKa Jul 22 '15 at 15:21
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    @ThomasOwens This is more or less true in India too. An offer letter is a written document specifying the terms of the job offer, including salary, designation, and the usual stuff. The OP's question is hardly representative of Indian work practices, this is the first time I am hearing a company providing an offer letter upon leaving. – Masked Man Jul 22 '15 at 15:40
  • I'm in India, and an offer letter being provided only at the time of leaving, sounds like them stalling. It's unlikely that they'd provide it. Even in India, it's better to get a formal, signed offer letter. A verbal offer letter means nothing. – Anon Nov 5 '15 at 17:05

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