Having to tell a job candidate they didn’t get the position is never easy, but if you know how to break the news with tact, you can help your company maintain its reputation while also improving each candidate’s experience working with your company. We’ll go through why it’s so important to send a polite rejection letter to a job candidate, how to write one, some examples, and some pointers to make sure it goes off without a hitch. So the question is how to tell a candidate they didn’t get the job? Here are the ways for you.
Why is it so important to break the news that they did not get the job in a professional way?
How you break the news to an unsuccessful candidate might have tremendous effect on your company’s image. Maintaining a great employer brand and keeping the candidate in your talent pool for future consideration are both possible if you handle the situation professionally and courteously. If applicants feel they were handled properly throughout the hiring process but were ultimately unsuccessful, they may reapply in the future.
The skill of informing a rival that they were unsuccessful in their employment application
Notifying a candidate that they were not selected for a position requires respecting the candidate’s time and providing an acceptable explanation for why they were not chosen. A company’s reputation in the labour market depends on its ability to inform rejected applicants in a professional manner. Please stick to this sequence.
You should contact the candidate by email or phone to thank them for applying for the position. If you want your email correspondence to look more personal, be sure to always address the recipient by name. Personalising each and every one of your rejection emails shows that you care enough to put in the effort.
You should explain that you are now talking to other potential employers about employment options.
It’s crucial that you and the recipient of your email or conversation get right down to business. Reassure the candidate that they have not been rejected without kindness. You might let them know that you enjoyed meeting with them throughout the interview process but that you’ve decided to move on to other potential candidates or provide an offer to someone else. Let them know that although their application was reviewed, you decided to go in a different direction. To help them feel better about the situation, you may also relay any positive feedback the hiring committee had about their application or resume.
You should highlight the other candidate’s strengths
If you’ve already decided to hire someone else, it would be helpful to let the rejected prospect know what qualities the successful candidate had that they did not. You might mention how impressed you were with their level of experience, but in the end you went with someone who had more formal education. You may also let them know that the other candidate has experience in a role similar to the one you’re hiring for, so they’d be able to jump right in if they were hired.
Let them know there were plenty of qualified people to choose from when filling the post
Some candidates may take rejection personally; if this is the case, it might assist to let them know they are not alone or that your company did not intentionally mislead them. You could remind them that there were many other qualified applicants.
