As a HR Manager (or owner) you are busy with trying to fill all those important roles or other tasks in your company. You’re so busy that you don’t even have time to let the candidates who applied for the role know that they didn’t make the cut for interviews.

This however is the most common mistake made amongst employers and is one of the easiest problems to rectify.

Why should I?
First of all it will stop endless calls and emails from candidates asking about their application. Plus the candidate has taken the time to fill out the application it is only polite to update them.
If the candidate is not a good match for this position this doesn’t mean they won’t be for a future position. By not contacting them to some degree could mean you will lose them as a potential candidate forever.
You also want candidates to feel good about your organisation even if they don’t get the job. If you give them no feedback at all they could spread negative feedback about the company and let’s face it with social media you don’t want that kind of feedback.

It’s all about timing…
You should give the candidate feedback as soon as you are sure that they are not suitable for the role. This way the candidate can move on as soon as possible and look for other opportunities.
If you have interviewed the candidate let them know as soon as you have made a decision on who has gotten the position.  It is best to call and reject them as opposed to an email rejection in this instance.
What to write in a rejection email…
There are a lot of ways you can send out a rejection email to candidates. You can use mail merge or you could use software like Perform Zone which you can automate the process for you.  But it still means you have to write a rejection email. When writing a rejection email it is important to make sure constructive and personalised as possible.

To help you out we have written a free rejection letter template for you to use.

Click here for a free rejection letter template

Remember the candidate has taken time to fill out an application for the position you have available. By not responding to their application can potentially give the wrong message about your company. A rejection letter can be simply written up and sent out via a mail merge or you can always invest in software like Perform Zone which can help automate the process for you.