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I have received a formal job offer and have been emailed a pdf formal offer letter to sign and return. Everything's in order, the letter has been revised to reflect negotiated terms, and I'm prepared to accept.

Every form I find for accepting says I should begin "Dear Mr/Ms _______"

The job offer letter opens with "Dear [first name]"

I'm thinking I should begin my reply with "Dear [first name]" as well, and keep it more formal, but a friend said that it would be better to say "Hi [first name]" as all previous emails (well, all 2 of them) to this person already began "Hi." The email in which this person attached the formal offer letter also began "Hi [first name]."

I suppose this detail is not terribly important in the big picture, but I don't want to come off sounding either too casual or too stuffy.

At the moment, I think "dear" is the safer way to go, but wanted to hear others' thoughts. I already checked out this related question: How do you send a job acceptance email?

Thanks for your help!

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  • "Dear" is the standard word for signalling beginning the letter and not really signal formal/informal. To signal formal/informal you should say "Dear John" (informal signal, first-name basis), "Dear Mr. Smith" (formal signal; last-name naming). As others mentioned, in informal contexts you can also use other words like "Hi". Some people omit the greeting line entirely in e-mails, but personally I find that irritating even in informal contexts.
    – Brandin
    Commented Mar 4, 2015 at 19:34

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I think you're overthinking things.

They already know they want you, so anything from "Dear" to "Hello" to "Hi" is probably fine (though probably not "Hey" or "Yo wassup"). When in doubt, I usually take the example of whomever emailed me. If they opened with "Dear", then I would open with "Dear". So relax, and celebrate the fact that you have an offer!

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  • Thanks, your answer makes sense! Rereading my question, it does seem a bit over-fussy. Last minute jitters, I think. -G
    – user33052
    Commented Mar 4, 2015 at 13:38
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I rarely use Dear in business correspondence.

I like to give a time-based salutation like "Good Morning X!" or "Good Afternoon X!"

If I don't know which way to address the person I'm emailing, I will leave out the name and instead say only "Good Morning!"

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  • It's an interesting idea - I've always avoided time-based greetings in communication that doesn't happen in real time. If I say "Good Morning!" and the recipient doesn't read my e-mail until the afternoon, I think it might distract them from what I'm communicating.
    – ColleenV
    Commented Mar 4, 2015 at 14:58
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Use whatever greeting is in the offer letter.

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