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I was offered a job the other day (verbally) but I was not provided with a lot of details and, since I am a minor, my dad is the one who has to email my employer about whether or not I am going to take this job or not.

After giving it some thought, I concluded that, since the school year is going to start in a couple of months, this job might affect my school so I most likely will not take it. But I do not want to miss this opportunity so I would like to ask my possible employer about the details of a job(most importantly, how many hours of work a day I have to put into this job and how many days a week). I thought of something along these lines:

Hello Dr. Doe,

I was wondering if I were to do this machine learning project, how many hours of work would I have to put into it per week and would I be able to work from home?

My main issues are the following:

  1. I feel like this sounds like the employer is the one who really needs me and I sound like I am scarce.

  2. I do not know how to end the e-mail. I am 14 so I do not really know what to write so it would not sound sort of weird.

What is the best way I could ask the questions I already wrote in a formal way and how could I end my email?

EDIT I live in Canada.

Thank you so much in advance!

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  • Welcome to Writing.SE, Borna! Not sure if this question is a better fit for us or for [worplace.se], but either way, welcome! We're happy to have you here! Take a look at our tour and help center pages, they're helpful. It might help us answer your question if you added what country you live in. Nothing more specific than that, but country might affect office culture and email culture, and so might be relevant.
    – Galastel supports GoFundMonica
    Aug 16, 2019 at 18:17
  • @Galastel At first, I too thought workplace.se is a better fit but I figured my question really boils down to the formatting of the letter and thus, this would be the proper SE to post this but if you think otherwise, please let me know so I could take it down and put it on workplace.se!
    – user40720
    Aug 16, 2019 at 20:26
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    Welcome Borna. Your question isn't really on topic for Writing (bits of it are) but we're glad you found us and you're welcome to stay. It is very strange for an employer to offer a job (especially to a teen) and not tell you how many hours it is or what the timing is. The fact that you have to ask them is a red flag in my opinion. Yes I would write them and I would act like it was an oversight on their part (don't call them out for not telling you). I also suggest you do all the communication with them and have your dad help you in the background. That's how my 14 year old does it.
    – Cyn
    Aug 17, 2019 at 16:11
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    @DJSpicyDeluxe If you don't have enough rep to VTC you can still flag the post and choose "should be closed." This will start the process. Note to Borna, please don't worry if the question gets closed. You can either edit to make it on topic or find another place for it. Either way, you're always welcome here.
    – Cyn
    Aug 17, 2019 at 16:13
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    @DJSpicyDeluxe You get badges for raising flags that are deemed "helpful." Badges are fun, though not everyone is into them. On the serious side though, the reason people are encouraged to flag when needed is so the community can deal with problematic posts and the mods can see things that are more serious problems and take care of them. It's a good thing to learn. And when you do get that rep, going through the review queues is super helpful to everyone.
    – Cyn
    Aug 17, 2019 at 23:13

1 Answer 1

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  1. I feel like this sounds like the employer is the one who really needs me and I sound like I am scarce.

That's fair. It seems like the employer does need you more than you need them, and you're not being rude about it. I wouldn't worry about it.

  1. I do not know how to end the e-mail. I am 14 so I do not really know what to write so it would not sound sort of weird.

How about:

Thanks,
  --Borna

There's only one thing I would change. You wrote "how many hours of work would I have to put into it," but that makes it sound like a chore you'd rather not do. You might say something like "how many hours per week does the job require" instead. Use whatever phrasing works for you, but it might be best to get rid of that have. You might also want to let them know what hours you're available up front.

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    Thank you so much for your answer! I ended changing “would I have to” to what you suggested and sent the e-mail.
    – user40720
    Aug 16, 2019 at 20:27
  • @BornaAhmadzade no problem, good luck! Set up a meeting with them and see what they're all about. I'm sure you'll make the right decision.
    – Thing-um-a-jig
    Aug 16, 2019 at 22:49

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