What is a rejection letter?
The rejection letter is an official document sent to candidates that are not selected for a particular job after interviewing. Its primary purpose is to inform the rejected candidate in a formal and respectful manner to allow the applicants to move on and continue their job search.
This letter commonly includes the following essential points for your overview:
- The information of your company such as company name, address and logo. You do not need to include the sender's address if using company letterhead.
- Contact information of the HR department or hiring employer.
- Job position and name of the applicant.
- Reason for rejection: another candidate was more qualified, candidate demanded compensation above what the company could afford, candidate was overqualified for the position, candidate lacked confidence while answering interview questions, unsolicited application or even an undisclosed reason.
- The intention of sending the letter is to keep in touch for a new role in the future.
Rejection Letter After Interview Templates
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Standard rejection letter after the interview template
What Companies Should Do to Write a Good Rejection Letter After an Interview
Below we have explored the three major steps companies should keep in mind when writing this letter:
Have a customized interview rejection letter
Every company or business whether small, large or medium has their own format and standard templates which they use to reject all candidates that have not been selected after an interview regardless of the position. It is highly advisable that you take the time and customize every rejection letter by personalizing it. You can do this by simply adding the candidates name, the position which the candidate is being rejected for after the interview, and anything which you may recall from the interview which lead to the candidate being rejected.
It might seem unnecessary to many, but it adds a positive experience for the candidate making the interview they had with your company worthwhile. It is also a very crucial tool that businesses can use to build a strong employer brand, increasing the amount of potential candidates who would like to work for your organization.
Ensure that the rejection letter is concise
A good rejection letter after an interview should be short and straight to the point. You should not write long paragraphs of why you are rejecting the candidate in a bid to explain yourself because there are high chances that your company was not the only company the candidate might have interviewed with. Therefore, praising the candidate about their qualifications, skills or experience should be limited or to the bare minimum.
Maintain professionalism and remain considerate when writing
Some companies make the mistake of telling the candidate that they have been rejected in the rudest way. So, it is important to remain professional and polite when writing the rejection letter because the candidate took out time from their daily scedule to attend the interview with your company.
Layout of A Good Rejection Letter After An Interview
Do you want to create a standard letter form for your organization? The following is our guide to writing a simple and polite letter.
First Paragraph
Firstly, mention the job title to clarify the purpose of the letter and start your letter by expressing gratitude to the candidate for applying to your company, mentioning that you appreciate their time to attend the interview. Within the first paragraph, you can also emphasize that a thorough review has been conducted.
The Main Body of The Letter
The second paragraph is the most challenging part, where you have to tell the candidate that they were unsuccessful with this job offer. You can consider giving reasons or not depending on your HR department policy. Some companies require an unrevealed reason stated in the letter unless the applicants request feedback on why they got rejected. Regardless of this, it’s nice to customize your letter with reasons to help candidates improve their experience or skills to succeed in their next interview.
Close Your Letter
In this paragraph wish the candidate luck in their job search, attaching your contact information to reach out if candidates have further questions. As opposed to the standard rejection letter there are several types of rejection letters which companies can write, such as rejection letter for apprenticeship, rejection letter after probation, rejection of an unsolicited application etc.
Related template
When rejecting interviewees, you likely have an ideal candidate in mind whom you wish to hire and send an offer letter. We've got you covered. Utilize our editable 🔗employment offer letter templates to streamline your workflow and save time for other important tasks. Need a contract also? Visit our 🔗employment contract templates and customize yours effectively.
Tips For Writing a Professional Rejection Letter
- Keep an encouraging and optimistic tone of voice throughout the rejection letter. This makes sure that the candidates do not feel bad or gain the feeling that their time was wasted.
- If the candidate came second or third from the chosen candidate, you can tell the candidate to connect for future roles within your organization that match their resume.
- Refer to a few samples for structures of the letter before crafting ideas.
- After completing this letter, you may wonder when to send it. According to INC.'s article 🔗What's the Best Time to Send Rejection Letters?, the response is "there's never really a good time to reject people." It's difficult to pinpoint an exact timing for sending it. However, what's most important is that you decide to send it, especially when many companies don't even bother to send rejections and leave interviewees in silence.
How Employers Benefit from Having a Rejection Letter After Interview Template
- Using a standard rejection letter after interview template allows employers to give short and polite responses to candidates, giving them more time to review other suitable applicants.
- Due to templates being easy to customize, recruiters can simultaneously send candidates one standard rejection letter format.
- Some employers prefer to send formal, personalized job rejection letters after an interview by postal mail or email. This method is usually preferred for job offers for executive or managerial positions such as CEO, Director, etc. The templates can also be personalized for the particular candidate and printed out if the employer prefers to send the rejection letter by postal mail.
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