Having to break the news that an applicant did not receive the job may be an uncomfortable and unpleasant scenario for recruiters, but knowing how to break the news tactfully can help your firm preserve its image and improve each prospect’s experience working with your organisation.

Here, we’ll explain why it’s so important to send a polite rejection response to a job candidate, provide some example language you may use, and suggest some other useful resources as well. So how to tell someone they didn’t get the job?

When someone does not get the job, why must they be told in a professional way that they did not?

The way you break the news to a job candidate that they did not get the position may reflect poorly or well on your company. If you can handle the situation professionally and politely, the prospect may remain in your talent pool for future evaluation, and your company’s reputation as an employer will remain intact. 

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. 

If I could, I would want to express my gratitude.

You should thank the candidate via phone or email for applying for the position. To make your internet communications appear more personable, always use the recipient’s name. Personalizing each and every one of your rejection emails shows that you care enough to put in the effort.

Make it seem like you’re talking to other potential applicants for jobs right now.

While communicating by email or in-person, it is crucial that you cut to the chase and get to the meat of the matter at hand as soon as possible. Let the candidate know kindly that they were not chosen for the post. Thank them for their time, and explain that you have decided to go on with other candidates or make an offer to someone else. 

Provide an account of the other candidate’s strengths.

If you’ve decided to offer the position to someone else, you may as well give that person a heads-up about the perks the other applicants had but you didn’t. You might mention how you appreciated their work history but eventually chose another candidate because of their superior academic credentials.

Let them know there were a lot of qualified people that applied for the job.

Reassuring rejected candidates that they are not alone or that your organisation did not intend to mislead them will assist ease their pain of rejection. Let them know there were many of other competent people applying for the job.