The Proper Way to Reject a Job Candidate

Rejecting a job candidate can get awkward—and yet it’s an unavoidable part of recruitment. Open positions, especially when advertised online, can get hundreds, if not thousands of applicants.

The first point of contact tends to be through email: instead of a face, all you have to judge with are portfolios and CVs. As candidates get filtered through rounds of interviews, they become more emotionally invested in their application.

The loss hits hard when one’s nearly at the finish line—fully qualified, but beaten out by someone more exceptional.

The effect on candidate experience

With the volume of applications sent out to HR, it’s understandable that straight-out not replying has become a norm. No email one week after the interview? That’s assumed to be a clear sign that you’re not in the running anymore.

However, it isn’t very considerate or polite—and it can be harmful to your employer branding. In fact, more than 40% of applicants who don’t get a return email swear that they’ll never apply to that company again.

Being left hanging can lead to a terrible candidate experience, which you wouldn’t want to risk. Word-of-mouth gets around pretty fast, especially when posted online, and a negative review on social media or on job forums like Glassdoor can convince people to not apply in the first place.

Aim for closure

Even if you’re swamped with applications, though, consider how much effort every candidate has to put out. Beyond emailing their CV, they also need to write a cover letter, answer any exam screenings, and attend interviews.

Wherever they are in the application process, they’re still investing time and energy into it—and it’s worth respecting that, even if they don’t make it to the end.

First off, once a candidate has been rejected, it’s best to inform them right away. Don’t leave them hanging. This especially applies to applicants who have gotten through several rounds of interviews already. In this case, you can call them over the phone to tell them personally.

The usual protocol, though, is to send a rejection email. You can definitely use a template, but add a slight personal touch by tailor-fitting it for the candidate’s name and position.

If you feel like going the extra mile, you can also explain in polite terms why you didn’t get them—maybe you wanted someone with more years of experience, or they didn’t pass the screening exam. If you’re planning to keep their file for future openings, then be honest about that.

Rejection can be touchy, so try to have a kind and supportive tone while remaining concise. Finally, thank them for applying.

Rejection done right: Hootsuite

For an example of a well-done rejection letter, check out Hootsuite’s. They actually did a full-blown case study of their candidate experience, from editing their job description to sending out surveys.

The thought-provoking question that they explored was: what if companies offered more than closure? More than informing the candidate that they weren’t accepted for the position, Hootsuite’s template encourages them to check out the company’s new job openings from time to time.

Impressively, half of the template consists of helpful resources to help applicants with their job search, including interview follow-up tips and developing personal brand. This makes Hootsuite stand out from the vast crowd of companies that don’t even bother to reply to their candidates—and the magic is that even rejected applicants are left with a warm, positive impression.

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