Drafting an Offer Isn't Just the Letter.

Many people assume that drafting an offer means writing the congratulatory letter. This video explains that, with Claude's draft-offer skill, the job is larger. It covers the full compensation package, the offer letter itself, and negotiation guidance for the hiring manager, once a candidate is ready to hire.

More than a congratulatory letter

The video starts from a common assumption: asking Claude to help with an offer means asking it to write the letter. The video corrects that. A complete offer, as this skill defines it, includes the compensation package of base pay, equity and a signing bonus, the letter text, and guidance for the hiring manager.

A skill is a folder Claude reads first

This kind of drafting is built from something called a skill. A skill is a folder that Claude reads before it works. Inside is one file written in plain language that spells out exactly what counts as a finished offer. Claude reads the file and then follows it. The video says the file is the whole program.

How the steps run

The steps run in order. Claude reads the file, works through each step exactly as written, and then returns the result. Nothing runs out of sequence unless a step itself says it should. This is why the skill behaves predictably: what it produces depends on what is written in the file.

Exactly three parts

For this skill there are exactly three things it covers, once a candidate is ready for an offer:

• assembling the total comp package, with base, equity and signing bonus
• writing the offer letter text itself
• preparing negotiation guidance for the hiring manager

The video is explicit about the boundary. Ask the skill about anything else and there is no mode that covers it. The negotiation guidance is directed at the hiring manager, and the video does not present the skill as something that negotiates with the candidate.

What this means for the way you ask

Because the skill is built around those three parts, the most useful request names all of them. A request for just a letter leaves out the comp package and the negotiation guidance that make up a finished offer. The video's example prompt asks for a software engineer role at a base of $140,000 and requests the total comp package, the letter text, and negotiation talking points for the hiring manager together.

Key takeaways

• Drafting an offer is not just writing the congratulatory letter.
• The draft-offer skill covers exactly three parts.
• Part one is the total comp package: base, equity and signing bonus.
• Part two is the offer letter text itself.
• Part three is negotiation guidance for the hiring manager.
• A skill is a folder Claude reads before it works, with one plain-language file.
• Steps run in order, and anything outside the three parts has no mode that covers it.

Try it yourself

Ask Claude something like this: you are hiring a software engineer at a $140,000 base, and you want help drafting a complete offer, with the total comp package covering base, equity and signing bonus, the offer letter text itself, and negotiation talking points for the hiring manager. Check that all three parts come back, and not just the letter.