Appointment Letter: A temporary and immediate letter offered to any candidate selected in an interview process is termed the appointment letter. An appointment letter confirms the chosen candidate for a position he had applied for through a written document. It is going to be issued by the company, which would later induct him into formal roles. For an internship or a job position, soon after an interview is conducted, a joining letter is issued to candidates selected for various roles or internship opportunities such as software professionals/ teachers/ architects/ business roles/ engineers/ accountants/ bankers etc.
The most important parts of an appointment letter include the name of the selected person, designation he is selected for, the name of the company, and the temporary appointment date. This article discusses appointment letter formats and samples in detail. Companies can easily incorporate these formats when preparing appointment letters to their newly inducted employees/ interns.
The basic appointment letter includes name, date of joining, reporting to the company, job location, duties towards the role assigned, CTC and salary details/ benefits, working hours, company rules and regulations, leave policies, reporting hierarchy, etc. All private companies issue appointment letters that comprehensively describe every aspect of joining information that a new joinee should be aware of. When it comes to government companies, they stick to a common protocol of drafting appointment letters.
An appointment letter could also be drafted to have a formal business discussion with clients to strike a project/ deal with pre-mentioned timings, venue and other prospective details. We have discussed this aspect in the latter part of the article.
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Appointment Letter Format
In India, job selection is an ardent task. For a single job vacancy, there would be hundreds queued up to pitch into the role. Companies usually select the best talent from the pool through many rigorous rounds of written tests and group discussions. People shortlisted in these rounds get call letters from companies for a personal interview session. Candidates who clear this final interview round get selected for the position offered by the company. As part of the confirmation process, the company issued an appointment letter providing them with further instructions and eases their joining process. Here is the format of the appointment letter template in the word.
Date: DD/MM/YYYY
Name:
Address:
Dear (Selected candidate’s name),
With reference to the recently concluded interview on 5th March 2020 at Sapthagiri College of Engineering, Hesaraghatta Road, Bangalore, we are pleased to inform you that you have been selected for the role of [name the designation] at our company. With effect from [mention joining date], kindly report to the company by following the terms and conditions described below:
- Salary: Describe the complete salary package offered for the role.
- Probation: Mention the initial probationary period the new joinee has to serve to seek a permanent position in the company.
- Working hours: Mention the number of working days and applicable working hours followed in the company.
- Leave policy: Clearly describe the number of sick leaves, maternity leaves, earned, and casual leaves applicable for employees in the organisation.
- Notice period: Mention the time period before which an employee willing to quit the company should inform concerned officials to facilitate the relieving process.
- Miscellaneous details: Any other information crucial at the time of joining should be communicated clearly to the candidate.
Employee’s name (Signature)
Appointment letter issuing authority’s name (Signature)
Appointment Letter Samples
Below, we present some useful sample letters that provide valuable assistance to companies in drafting letters to their new employees and intern recruits.
1. Appointment Letter for Job/Employee
In this letter below, we have provided a sample letter mentioning an employee selected for a position in the company; take a look:
2. Appointment Letter for Accountant
In this letter, we draft a specific letter for the role of accountant, and employers can use this template as a valuable resource for staffing purposes:
3. Internship Appointment Letter
An internship is usually offered to candidates right after graduation, which provides them exposure to office work and professional skills not learned as part of the school/ college curriculum. Here is the format for an internship appointment letter.
How do I Write an Appointment Letter?
Every company seeks to provide the best appointment letter to its employees, complete with all details and underlying information. Here we throw light on a similar format that is acceptable across company verticals and groups.
Offer Letter Vs Appointment Letter
When a person attends an interview for a company and gets hired/ selected for a position, companies on their part issue the selected candidate with either an offer letter or an appointment letter. The distinguishing factors between the two documents are described in this section:
- Appointment Letter: Whenever an interview is conducted to fill a particular vacant position in a company and a candidate is chosen for that position, he is issued an appointment letter. The document contains particulars like role and designation, joining date, job location, salary, leave policy, working hours, probationary period etc.
- Offer Letter: Usually, in campus recruitment’s, companies hire candidates in large numbers but not for specific positions. At first, the company offers them paid training and later, based on their performance, inducts them into various roles suitable for the company. In this kind of recruitment and selection process, the company gives out offer letters to selected candidates. Upon completing their training/ probation as per company regulations, they get appointed for a specific designation.
Usually, in the case of offer letters, the candidate must sign the document and return it to the company if he wishes to join them. But an appointment letter is a signed authority by the company assigning the candidate to a specific role in the company, and the candidate need not submit back a copy of his acceptance.
For example, FCI recently concluded their long interview process for specific positions and later issued appointment letters to selected candidates.
FAQ’s On Letter of Appointment
Question 1. What is an appointment letter?
An appointment letter is a letter of selection of a candidate by a company for a specific vacant position.
Question 2. What are the main components of an appointment letter?
Some of the main components of an appointment letter are designation, job location, salary, leave policy, HR policies, joining date and working hours.
Question 3. Who issues the appointment letter and to whom?
A company that selects candidates for a specific vacant position at their campus issues appointment letters to persons who successfully clear the interview process.