Job Applicant Rejection Letter Dos and Donts
Writing an Appropriate “Dear John” Letter to an Unsuccessful Applicant
Back in 2006, we covered the topic of applicant rejection letters in a post linking to an article in Assessment Council News (Considerations in Rejecting Applicants, on p.4).
Since today’s economy is resulting in more applications — and thus more rejected job applicants — we decided to give the topic another look.
With today’s recession also bringing more employment lawsuits, your company’s applicant rejection letters could be very costly if written in a way that could spark legal action. According to Business Management News’ article Rejection letters under scrutiny:
Employee lawsuits typically spike during recessions, and this one seems to be no exception. A new government report says job discrimination claims filed with the EEOC climbed 26% in the past two years.
So let’s look at a few tips for writing job applicant rejection letters that satisfy important business interests while keeping the company out of hot water.
Applicant Rejection Letters 101: An Opportunity to Build Goodwill
The first good advice about letters to rejected applicants is that you should always send them.
This might seem like common sense, but many businesses try to save money by cutting out this step — and with the tons of resumes being received during the current recession, who could blame them?
However, businesses need the good will of every customer they can get — and if you don’t send a rejection letter to applicants, you may well alienate them and their families, discouraging them from doing business with you or from applying for another position to which they may be better suited.
Imagine people switching to your competitors or disparaging your company for every rejection letter you don’t send and multiply that by the number of resumes you’re receiving in response to each of your job postings, and you can begin to see the possible negative ripple effect that could occur.
Can your business afford to save postage at the expense of so many potential lost sales? Continue reading …
Article by, Dawn Wolfe and courtesy of George Lenard, the originator of George’s Employment Blawg, has over twenty years of experience in all aspects of labor and employment law, including preventive law as well as litigation. His special interests include employment discrimination, sexual harassment, and noncompetition agreements. He is currently a managing partner with Harris, Dowell, Fisher & Harris, L.C., in St. Louis, Missouri, and lives in the suburb of University City with his wife and family.
