I just wrote my first employee rejection letter.
It was odd. You know all those phrases that employers use in order to make the rejection seem less harsh? I used to scoff at them, and wonder why they couldn't just say it straight. But now that I'm the one doing the rejecting, I found those stilted verbal constructions to be exactly what I needed.
The reason is simple: everybody I brought in to be interviewed had some promise to them, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered bringing them in. Therefore the only people I need to send rejection letters to are those who, in another life, might have made it. If I had gotten fewer applicants, or if the job market was tighter so that the best applicants turned me down, things would have gone differently. I can't just tell these people that they lost, without elaborating as to why.
On a lighter note, when I mentioned that I had just written my first rejection letter to a coworker, he forwarded me this rejection letter rejection.
Posted on May 24, 2004 05:32 PM
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I remember writing my first rejection letters, trying to be a good person - tailoring each letter individually with positive feedback and good luck for the future - and then realising I had another fifty to write and running a mailmerge instead...such is life.
Posted by: Mark Thristan at May 26, 2004 01:26 PMI, too, am writing my first rejection letter and find myself looking online for some help or pre-written form that I can use. My words at times seem shallow and insincere. Too few words would be callous; too many shows some sort of guilt. I read the John Kador letter you refer to prior to finding your blog. It brought humor to this uneasy task.
Posted by: Rob Beers at July 13, 2004 07:02 PMhi. I am trying to find some information on how to write a rejection letter. whenever i start to type something, i just think about being on the other side. I just cant find the right words to say "no." so if anyone has any samples or anything that would help me greatly!
Thanks again!!
I'm having difficulty because of all the loopholes that go along with our sue-happy society. I'm afraid to say too much for fear of litigation, but I'm afraid to say too little for fear of the phone calls.
Posted by: candace at April 29, 2005 10:18 AM1. Use formal letterhead when typing your letter. Do not handwrite a rejection letter.
2. Address your candidate by name.
3. Thank the candidate for the time, effort and interest in the position.
4. Write a supportive sentence about the candidate's qualifications, experience or, at very least, enthusiasm or motivation.
5. Make it clear that the reason you didn't hire the candidate was because you found someone else with better qualifications and experience.
6. Describe your company's procedures. For example, the company keeps resumes on file and notifies potential candidates about job openings. Alternatively, you can make no mention of this whatsoever.
7. Wish the candidate good luck in his or her career development.
8. Close the letter formally with "sincerely" or "best wishes."
9. Sign your name, including your title.
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