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Hiring Tip: The Power of “No Thank You”

Recruitment is not a statistically sound process. At the end of a hiring process, you as the hiring manager or HR professional get one excited candidate bringing their skills and promise to the organization. …and then you get to tell six hundred other candidates that their skills and promise will not be coming to the organization. Yes, you are going to be a big, mean, dasher of hopes. But it’s better to reject a candidate than to ghost them. A tactful rejection protects your company’s brand across every interaction, especially to would-be brand ambassadors. The “no thank you” is your last opportunity to build a positive relationship with them. That means every candidate needs a “no thank you” whose personalization varies depending on how far they got in the process. So how can you deliver a “good” rejection?

Generally, a courteous “no thank you” includes the following:

Appreciation for the candidate’s interest in the company, application, and time spent during the hiring process
Acknowledgment of competition for the position
Statement that the job has been filled by a candidate whose qualifications were better suited for the position
Well wishes for the candidate’s future job search

The rejection will also be sent timely after the candidate has been removed from consideration—but not so soon that the candidate is reading a rejection while changing out of their interview suit.

A form letter is fine for applicants who were not selected to interview, but the further a candidate advances in the process, the more personal your rejection should be. That doesn’t mean going into detail about why that candidate wasn’t selected; it means instead of a letter, you make a phone call, and you sprinkle in specific things you liked about their background or personality. If you really liked a candidate, you can go as far as to keep in touch or suggest they apply for a future job opening.

You don’t want anyone’s last impression of your company to be: “I put myself out there and they couldn’t even say ‘no thanks.’ How rude!” This is your brand we’re talking about! And you want that brand to say “Everyone is valuable to us, especially the people who want to join our team.” So while recruitment is not a statistically sound process, it is a great opportunity to hire one stellar new employee and to create six hundred brand ambassadors.

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