Rejections are hard, but they’re harder for the job seeker than they are for you, so act accordingly.
- Don’t ghost. If an applicant will not be continuing through the process, tell them so.
- Remember that the job applicants you are dealing with are people, not robots, and act accordingly. All communication should be professional and strike the right tone (aka don’t be mean, okay?)
- Respond in a timely manner. Applicants are waiting to hear back, so don’t leave them hanging.
- Don’t rely on an auto-response (or at least not past a certain point.) We know that particularly at the beginning stages of posting a job, the response can be overwhelming and it simply may not be possible to respond personally to every single applicant. Ghosting is still not an option, of course–if you can’t respond personally, then make sure you have a carefully-crafted form letter to send out letting applicants know that they will not be continuing through the process. For applicants further on through the process, you should absolutely write a non-form response if they fall out.
- Offer feedback if you can, but make it constructive and encouraging. A helpful tip goes a long way.
- The most important thing (we know we’ve already said this but we can’t highlight it enough:) if you’ve moved forward with other candidates, be honest about it. Transparency builds trust and just because a candidate isn’t the right fit for this current position, it doesn’t mean that they won’t be the exact right fit for a future opening.
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