Even after you have hired your ideal candidate, your job is far from over; it’s important and professional to let all the candidates who didn’t get the role know that they were unsuccessful. Thus a hiring rejection notice is your next step.

Whilst it is not necessary, sending a hiring rejection notice is the last opportunity to communicate with applicants, and potentially keep their contact for future opportunities.

It should be a consideration and step in your recruitment process for a number of reasons:

• It’s professional and is considerate of the applicant’s time and effort
• It offers a great candidate experience and overall positive interaction; you don’t want to leave a negative perception of your company or brand
• It improves and/or maintains your employer branding and reputation
• It maintains a good relationship with the candidate and means that they are more likely to apply again, and more likely to refer others to apply
• It’s a touch point with your company and a positive experience can lead to the candidate either becoming a customer or increasing their purchases and/or interactions with your company in the future
• It can add to your talent pipeline and database of interested candidates, which can help you select the best and most skilled people in the future

Below are a two samples of a hiring rejection notice: one is to an applicant you haven’t spoken to, and the other is to an applicant you have spoken to and who had progressed along the interview stage, either via phone, in person, or online video.

Hiring Rejection Notice to a Candidate You Haven’t Spoken To

Email Subject Line: [job title] at [your company name] e.g. Customer Service Representative position at Company ABC OR Job Application - [their name]

Dear [insert applicant’s name],

Thank you for your interest in the [position you are recruiting for] role at [your company’s name].

We appreciate the time and effort it took to pass on your details and your desire to join our team. We received a great deal of interest for this role and a large number of applications.

As a result, we regret to inform you that your application has not been successful at this stage and you will not continue to the next stage in the selection process.

We would like to encourage you to apply for future positions, as they become available.

We wish you all the best for your future endeavours.

Best regards/Sincerely,
[Hiring Manager Name]

Hiring Rejection Notice to a Candidate You Have Spoken To

Email Subject Line: [job title] at [your company name] e.g. Marketing Manager position at Company ABC OR Job Application - [their name]

Dear [insert applicant’s name],

Thank you for your interest in the [position you are recruiting for] role at [your company’s name] .

I would like to inform you that the position has now been filled.

Once again, thank you for the time and effort it took for you to apply and to talk to us about your skills and experience.

We look forward to welcoming any future applications to join our team, as they become available.

Optional:
We will keep your application and details on file and if an alternate or more suitable role becomes available in the future, we will be in touch.

Best regards/Sincerely,
[Hiring Manager Name]

Here are some useful tips to remember when writing your hiring rejection notice:

• Thank the applicant for their time and effort in applying and/or interviewing
• Personalizing their name and the position they were applying for is a nice touch and can make the applicant feel that the process is less automated
• Be respectful and keep the language business-like and professional
• Keep it brief - you may have a lot of applications to respond to and don’t want to use your time giving in-depth feedback for everyone
• Stay away from specifics - you also don’t want to give the applicants cause to argue the reasons they weren’t chosen for the role
• Focus on what you need to focus on and only conveying the information required, and that is that you are thanking them for their time and effort and interest, but they did not get the job
• Reach out to them in a timely manner

If you would like advice on writing a hiring rejection notice or would like to improve the management of successful versus unsuccessful applicants, please contact us.