Posted

When someone shows enough interest in your company to submit an application for an open position, that person deserves the company’s respect, no matter how qualified he or she may be. And of course, simple arithmetic dictates that when you have only one open position to staff and 50 hopeful applicants, 49 of those candidates will receive rejections—even those who are perfectly prepared for the job. So what steps can you take to make this unavoidable reality easier for your candidates to accept? And how can you go a step further and create rejection letters that actually build, rather than diminish, your company’s reputation? Here are a few tips.

Acknowledge all applications.

Every candidate who submits a resume should receive a response, regardless of the outcome. At the very least, send each applicant a message confirming receipt of her materials. And if you know you won’t be able to offer more than this, explain this fact in your message. Include a statement like “Due to the volume of resumes we expect to receive, we will only be able to contact candidates who will be called in for an interview.”

Focus your attention on interviewees.

After this first step, you no longer need to correspond with applicants who aren’t called in for in-person interviews—Though the more you reach out to them, the more you’ll strengthen your position in the hiring marketplace. At this point, focus on your interviewees. And no matter how many rounds you go through and how many levels of cuts you make, send each rejected candidate a respectful personal letter. Ideally, you should also reach out by phone. Thank these candidates genuinely for their time and interest.

Don’t explain your decision.

There’s no need to explain in detail why you chose to take your decision in another direction. And in fact, offering too much information on this point can expose you to backlash, from an ongoing conversation (which you don’t want) to legal action (which you also don’t want). Simply let the recipient know that despite her impressive qualifications, her candidacy has been declined. By all means, don’t encourage the candidate to contact the company for further details. The end of your letter should be polite, but firm and final.

Treat your applicants with respect and courtesy, and never simply allow the line of communication to fall silent, especially after an applicant takes the time to come all the way into the office for an interview. For more on how to convey this message, contact the Texas staffing pros at Expert.

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)