Congratulations on your new job: what to write in the card
Keep a new job message to a few sentences: say well done, name something specific about them or the role, and wish them a good start. SEEK's career advice says a few sentences is more than enough, and warns that "you're so lucky to get this role" can read as an insult.
Card ideas for a new job
Pick the format to match how well you know them. A friend or family member gets a proper card, or a note tucked in with a small gift. A former manager or a client usually gets a short email or a LinkedIn message instead.
Who signs depends on who is celebrating. Friends and family sign their own cards. When a colleague is leaving for a new job, the team signs one card together, and the usual Australian office version is the oversized card that goes around the desks before their last day.
If the team is also chipping in for a gift, keep the two side by side: pass the physical card around and share one collection link in the same message, so people can sign and chip in at once. Our farewell card messages cover the goodbye side, and how to organise a work farewell covers the morning tea. For other milestones, see our congratulations messages for every occasion.
- Friend or family: a card, signed by you, given before or soon after the first day
- Old team: one big card everyone signs, plus an optional collection for a shared gift
- Manager or client: a short email or LinkedIn message, sent soon after you hear the news
- Graduate's first job: a card from the family, ideally with something useful for the first weeks
How to write a new job message
- Lead with the news: "Well done on the new role" or "So glad you got it" works better than a long build-up.
- Make one line specific: the job they wanted for years, the interview they prepped for, the skill the new team is getting.
- Skip the backhanded compliment. SEEK flags "you're so lucky to get this role" as a line that can sound like an insult, because it suggests luck rather than ability.
- Add a fond memory if you worked together. SEEK suggests it, and it is the line people keep the card for.
- Finish with a wish for the start: a good first week, a kind team, an easy commute.
Short new job messages and good luck wishes
Short and simple
One or two lines for the card or a text.
- New job, new desk, same brilliant you. Well done!
- So happy for you. They picked well.
- Huge news! Wishing you a great first week.
- Best wishes on your new job. Go and enjoy it.
- All the best in your new role. You earned this one.
- Well done on landing it. Can't wait to hear all about it.
- Here's to a strong start and a good team around you.
- Good luck in your new job. Back yourself.
- Cheers to the next chapter. Proud of you.
Good luck and encouragement
For nervous starters and career changers.
- Changing careers takes guts, and you've already done the hardest part.
- Nerves just mean you care. You'll be fine.
- Give it a few weeks before you judge it. Everyone feels new at first.
- Starting over in a new field is brave. I'm in your corner.
- Nobody expects you to know everything on day one. Ask all the questions.
- Big step, and the right one. Good luck for Monday.
- Be kind to yourself in the first month. It takes time to find your feet.
- Here's hoping for patient trainers and an easy password reset.
Messages for a friend, partner or family member
For a friend
- I remember you saying this was the job you wanted. Look at you now.
- You've talked about making this move for ages, and you actually did it. Drinks are on me on Friday.
- Your new team has no idea how much fun their Mondays are about to become.
- Thrilled for you. Send me a photo of the new desk.
- Every interview you prepped for has led here. Enjoy it.
- Proper celebration needed. I'll book the table, you pick the dessert.
- Can we talk about how good this is? So pleased for you.
- Whatever the first week throws at you, call me on the drive home.
Heartfelt and proud
From a partner, parent or grandparent.
- We are so proud of you. Watching you work for this has been a privilege.
- You've put in the late nights and the hard yards, and it shows. Love you heaps.
- Nan and Pop want a full report after your first day. We're all beaming.
- I knew you'd get it. Now go and show them what I already know.
- Whatever you were doubting, look where it got you anyway.
- Dad and I are telling anyone who will listen. Sorry in advance.
- This is the start of something good, and we'll be cheering from home.
- Seeing you this excited about work makes my heart full.
Back at work after parental leave
A new job and a new routine at the same time.
- Back at it, and with a new job too. You're amazing.
- Starting a new role while juggling a little one is no small thing. Go gently with yourself.
- First drop-off, first day, first coffee you get to drink hot. Big week. Good luck.
- New role, new routine. Hope both settle quickly.
- Nothing you know has gone anywhere while you've been away. Your new team will see that fast.
- Cheering for you and the little one. Text me after day one.
- Your new team is lucky to have all that patience you've been practising at home.
- Here's to adult conversation, a lunch break and a desk of your own again.
Messages for a colleague
For a colleague leaving for a new job
Signed by the team you are leaving behind.
- We're sad to lose you and glad for you in equal measure. Go well.
- The place won't be the same without your Monday updates. Best of luck at the new place.
- Thanks for every time you covered for me. Your new team is getting a gem.
- I learnt more sitting next to you than in any training session.
- Don't be a stranger. The coffee run still has your order saved.
- It has been a pleasure working with you. Wishing you every success in the new role.
- From all of us: thanks for the laughs, the help and the excellent biscuits.
- You made the hard projects feel doable. Can't wait to see what you do next.
Professional
For a manager or client, by email or LinkedIn.
- Congratulations on your new role. Wishing you every success there.
- Delighted to see your news. They have made an excellent appointment.
- Best of luck as you start at the new organisation. I hope our paths cross again.
- Grateful for your support on our project, and wishing you well in the new position.
- Great news about your appointment. I look forward to seeing what you build there.
- Warm congratulations on the new position. Please keep in touch.
- Glad to see you in a role that suits you so well.
- Wishing you a smooth start. Let me know if I can help in any way.
Funny messages and first job wishes
Funny
For a friend or workmate who will laugh.
- Remember: the first week is mostly learning where the kettle is.
- Tip for day one: find the good chair and never give it up.
- Shiny new lanyard incoming. Wear it with pride.
- May your inbox be small and your lunch breaks long.
- You got the job! Now the hard part: pretending you know how the printer works.
- Hope your new office has better biscuits than ours did.
- Fingers crossed for a commute with no roadworks and a coffee machine that works.
- Hot tip: bring cake on the first Friday and you're set for life.
First job
For a graduate or school leaver starting out.
- First real job! That first payslip is going to feel amazing.
- Uni was the warm-up. Enjoy the main event.
- Watch and learn for a few months, then show them what you've got.
- Part-time shifts to a proper job title in a few short years. So proud of you.
- Write things down, ask for help early, and bring your own lunch.
- Look how far the kid who hated mornings has come. Set an alarm, and then a second one.
- Your first workplace will teach you heaps. Soak it all up.
- Welcome to working life. Save a little from every pay.
Send them off with a group gift
When a colleague leaves for a new job, the old team often wants to give more than a card. One collection lets everyone chip in a little toward a single gift you buy once the total is known, and the card can go around at the same time.
- Create a free registry for the occasion.
- Add a wishing well.
- Share one link with everyone who wants to chip in.
- Buy the gift once you know the total.
Setting up a registry with a wishing well is free. Guests can chip in by bank transfer, in cash or in store with no EasyRegistry fee. Card and PayPal contributions are a Premium feature ($39 one time), and card funds are released when the registry closes.
How a group gift wishing well works, and how much to ask each person for
New job message FAQ
A few sentences is plenty. SEEK's career advice says a few sentences is more than enough, so congratulations plus one specific line will do.
Avoid anything that credits luck over ability. SEEK warns that "you're so lucky to get this role" can read as an insult. Skip salary talk and digs at their old workplace too.
Any time between hearing the news and the end of their first week works. For a colleague who is leaving, the team card is usually given on their last day, at the farewell morning tea or drinks.
Say you will miss them, thank them for one specific thing, and wish them well in the new role. The farewell card messages guide has more lines by relationship.
It is optional. Close family and friends sometimes add a small gift, and a team that is losing a colleague often pools toward one shared gift. If you are asked to chip in, a small optional amount is fine and any amount is welcome; the group gift guide explains how a shared collection works.
Use "new role" for an internal move or a step up inside the same organisation, and "new job" when they are changing employers. For a step up, the promotion messages fit better.
Organising the team gift?
Create a free registry for the send-off, add a wishing well and share one link with the team.