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Send a candidate rejection letter as soon as you know that the applicant appears to be unqualified for your job. The qualifications may have looked good on paper, but when the applicant participated in a first round interview, reaction from your employees was unfavorable.
It is difficult to assess whether a candidate will fit your culture from the written application materials. Frequently vetted, the resume and cover letter have one goal: to enable the applicant to pass your screening filters and get called for an interview. Consequently, interviews are an opportunity to assess whether the candidate will fit in your workplace.
Some mismatches are easy to determine. If you ask the candidate to describe his preferred work environment and he tells you that he prefers to work alone in his office, for some environments that might be the right answer. But, if all of your work is team-based and collaborative, the candidate – and you – are unlikely to have found a good fit.
Other mismatches are more difficult to catch and some candidate are practiced interviewees. They know how to blow your socks off in the interview. They are emotionally intelligent and quick to catch the nature of the desired responses from your phrasing, expression and body language. The goal of every interviewee is to get a job offer so that the choice is in his hands – not yours.
So, cultural fit , while a critical component in candidate selection, is tricky to assess. When you and your interview team have determined that the potential employee is not a good cultural fit, use this rejection letter example to let him know. An employer of choice, who wants to maintain that reputation for recruiting employees, always lets the candidate know where he stands – as soon as you make that determination.
Candidate Rejection Letter Example
Date
Name of Applicant
Applicant's Address
Dear Pat:
You have not been selected for the position of marketing manager at Twin and Barton, Inc. The interview team appreciates the time you spent coming to the company for your recent interview.
We enjoyed talking with you and especially appreciated the fact that you took the time to prepare for the interview. Bringing marketing ideas for our products was admirable.
We wish you success with your continuing job search. We also appreciate your interest in our company.
Regards,
Real Person's Name and Signature
Example: Hiring Manager for the Interview Team
More About the Rejection Letter Example
You notice that this rejection letter example is brief, to-the-point and that it expresses gratitude for the candidate’s time invested in the application process. It is most notable, however, in the case of suspected poor cultural fit, for what it does not say. If you wanted to encourage a candidate to apply again, you would say so in the rejection letter, for example.
Here is what the rejection letter example leaves out – purposefully.
- Please apply for our open jobs in the future.
- Although we have selected another individual for this opening, we have another opening that you may wish to explore with us.
- We felt that you would fit in well at our company but you lack the marketing management experience that we must have for this position since it is leading the department.
- We’d like to stay in touch with you during your job search in case we have another opening for which you qualify.
These are the subtle ways that a selection team can communicate with potential employees whom you believe will fit culturally in your organization.
Standard Application Acknowledgement Letter
More About Sample Candidate Rejection Letters
- See a standard applicant rejection letter that you use to respond to applicants who are not as qualified as the applicants you decide to interview.
- See another sample, simple rejection letter sample for applicants whom you reject without an interview.
- Here is another sample rejection letter for applicants whom you choose not to invite for an interview.
- Here is a sample rejection letter for a candidate who did not appear to be a good fit for your company culture.
- See another sample rejection letter for use when you’d like the candidate to interview for a different job in your company.
- Here is a sample rejection letter for a candidate you hope applies again in the future: good cultural fit.
- Find another sample rejection letter for an applicant whom you hope reapplies in the future.
- This is a rejection letter for a candidate who was not selected following a first interview.
- Find a sample rejection letter for a candidate who is rejected following an interview.
- Here is a sample rejection letter for a candidate who was not selected following a second interview.
- Find out more about how to write job candidate rejection letters.
Letters for Successful Candidates
What if the candidate you are contacting was successful in his or her application? Following are sample job offer letters to let the candidate know the good news.
Sample Job Offer Letters
- Sample Employment Offer Letter (Standard Early-to-Mid-Career)
- Early Career: Sample Job Offer Letter
- Mid-Career Sample Job Offer Letter
- Executive Sample Job Offer Letter
- Sales Representative Sample Job Offer Letter
- Generic or Standard Sample Job Offer Letter
