Reviewed: How to craft a rejection email and maintain a positive candidate experience

Alex Guggenberger
Nov 4 · 3 min read
Photo by Med Badr Chemmaoui on Unsplash

Candidate experience has been a hot topic within the hiring space lately. Given the low unemployment rate, we have seen, the shortage of candidates means you can’t fully close the door on a candidate. Although rejection is a necessary evil, there are ways to make it a better experience for candidates.

In the article by Onrec, they mention various ways that you can make this experience a more pleasant one for candidates. Gone are the days of being able to send out a blanketed rejection letter or even worse…no response at all!

Here is what this article nails on the head:

  • The goal of building a great candidate experience is to make sure that every candidate gets an answer. If rejected, we want to know why that happened. The worst experience you can give a candidate is one in which they do not hear a response from you or hear back months down the road. Making sure your candidates understand where they are in the process is very important. From receiving the application to the possible rejection, always keep them in the know.
  • When thinking about rejection, think about breaking up with a loved one. Imagine being broken up with and getting no reason as to why it happened. Even if it wasn’t your fault, you want to know. In the case of getting rejected for a job, candidates want to know why. And it’s not just the blanket, “you weren’t a fit” or “you didn’t have the experience we were looking for.” You need valid reasoning that the candidate can leave with and say to themselves, “wow, I still want to work there when I am ready.” Make these rejections personalized for as many candidates as possible. Especially the ones that might not have the chops today, but you know will be a great fit if they get relevant experience. Tell them what they should do to be ready to work there in the future. This is how you build an evangelist for the future.

I do wish they would have talked more about the goal of creating a great candidate experience. To create a top-notch candidate experience, you need to think long term. The experience starts when someone first hears about your company, and to be honest, it never really ends. Even after the rejection, you have to keep those candidates in the loop and make them feel apart of the process. Your goal in rejection is to have them say, “Thank you, and I can’t wait to work on X, Y, and Z so I can be ready to work here in the future.” This excellent candidate experience can create an evangelist for your brand.

You never know, down the road, you might need a person just like the person you rejected a year ago. Make sure you don’t make the mistake of shutting that candidate out of any future roles. Make the candidate experience and rejection process so impressive that they are saying “thank you” throughout the whole process.

Read the whole article here: https://www.onrec.com/news/news-archive/how-to-craft-a-rejection-email-and-maintain-a-positive-candidate-experience

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Alex Guggenberger

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Co-Founder @JobikiHQ | Helping people find meaningful work by finding a meaningful workplace. | Travel ✈️, coffeeshops ☕️, and tech 💻

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