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A: This is an excellent question because, whether your business is large or small, public or private, it is critical in this day and age to have whatever job offer you make be in writing! However, industries vary considerably in what they include in job offers. Some are very general, just specifying position title, hours, and wage/salary specifications, while others are very specific, going into great detail about where else the prospective employees may/may not take their skills or client contacts, for example. Also, some job offers are accompanied by a thorough session with the human resources division of the company, and/or distribution of detailed personnel and/or labor union materials. Such materials are generally signed for by the new employee, so there can be no later confusion as to whether or not the material was offered/received. Because of this great variety, a helpful approach is to go to the web site of your industry's national organization(s) and look there for appropriate format suggestions. Doing this homework will result in both you and your employees being clear about where things stand and why.