chat
expand_more

Chat with our Pricing Wizard

clear

Other

Rejection Communications

Yvonne LaRose AvatarYvonne LaRose
January 7, 2006


Should a rejection be communicated via telephone voice mail? Well, if you want the equivalent of, “I just called to tell you that your mother [or insert title of any other significant in your life] died,” then go ahead and leave that type of voice message. However, an employer of any quality would not do so.


The better move is to leave a voice message to the effect that you’re following up on the interview of xx days ago and would appreciate a call. Voice tone should be positive because, after all, this may be a person you will either refer to an affiliate organization or call back for another opportunity that comes up at a later time.
The drawback with telephone call rejections is the need to keep the conversation going in order to overcome the discomfort of being the communicator of bad news. It’s best not to draw out the conversation. Are there any questions the applicant / candidate has? Are there any beneficial pointers that would provide this person with just the right edge on the next go-round? This is the time for the extended conversation — to convey that sort of information.
Some rejections sound as though they’re canned. Trust me. Those are the truly difficult to swallow. The candidate will be rolling their eyes at the enunciation of each and every syllable. The cough you hear on the other side of the telephone receiver (cell phone earpiece) is the candidate either vomiting in disgust or suppressing it — not sobs of dismay.
Some employers have the impression that new job seekers and recent grads have proliferate job offers that they in fact are rejecting. Now, let’s get a little more realistic. We are only, in the last four months or so, just begun to emerge from what I termed the New Millennium Depression. No one is (or at least very few are) rejecting offers.
Judging from what I’ve seen for quite a while, people have been waiting for months to hear absolutely any word from the potential employer. Their follow-up calls have gone unanswered. The candidate is wondering if the business still exists or if the interviewer still works there. It’s a good idea to communicate with the candidate in some form, be it voice message asking that they call, email rejection (which is pretty much the standard form of letter writing these days), or formal letter on company letterhead. Especially so if they have gone through at least a couple of interviews, whether by phone or in person, the person deserves to know what has happened. Let them know. They’ll respect you and your organization.
There are some arguments about whether entry-level positions should receive any notice that the candidate has been rejected. Please. Every person (unless the axe murderer) deserves some form of feedback and closure. Perhaps a canned email message would be appropriate, especially if their application was through your corporate website application. Whatever means, make it cost and time effective but let them know so that they can move on in a positive way.
Does one level of candidate deserve feedback over another? Every person has feelings. Not everyone has the same amount of resilience. No matter what the position of level of attainment, the candidate wants to be treated with respect. Please don’t hold out any carrots of hope if there are none. That’s misleading, and unfairly so.
Treat the candidate as though they were the runner in a fair race. They will appreciate your tastefulness. It will lend toward developing goodwill and potential referrals from the one you rejected.

Related Articles

No Related Posts.
View More Articles