There are lot’s of reasons why a company should be short, sweet and vague in their communications with rejected candidates. Namely:
1) Reduced Liability - rejected candidates can get emotional and become irrational. The less details you give them, the less lawsuit ammunition he/she has to use against you.
2) Low Cost/Benefit - rejected candidates are, by definition, people you don’t want to hire. There are better ways to spend your time.
3) It’s unpleasant - rejected candidates are usually wounded by rejection. Conversations with them can quickly turn unpleasant and argumentative.
4) It’s unproductive - there are more qualified potential employees you need to be spending your time with.
However, there’s a caveat. Sometimes a rejected candidate ends up being your employee of the year. Check out the example below:
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After sifting through dozens of resumes, the recruiter sent out the standard rejection template to the rejected applicants. Within a few minutes, he got this email from a candidate we’ll call Mr. rejected:
“Dear Sir, Thank you for your response. I have a couple questions, 1st I have not put myself out there in some time, so any suggestions either resume wise, or anything in the future that might help me with pursuing other companies? This would greatly help me. I know you are most likely very busy, and I thank you for any time you take out of your day. Sincerely, Mr. Rejected“.
Even though he was extremely busy, this email had a nice tone to it so the recruiter responded:
“Dear Mr. Rejected … we are looking for a (ABC) and as we reviewed and discussed your resume, it appeared that you had some great talent and experience with (XYZ), but that is not what we were looking for. I recommend that applicants customize their resume to the position they are applying for … ”
About a week later, the recruiter wrote a second note to Mr. Rejected:
“You changed my mind. After interviewing several candidates, based on our recent communications, I couldn’t help but think “we should have given Mr. Rejected a chance”. So, if you are still interested, we would like to speak with you. Would you be available for a phone interview on …”
Mr. rejected was later interviewed and soon after received this in the mail:
“Mr. Rejected, We are pleased to offer you the position of (ABC)“.
Three years later, Mr. rejected was selected as Employee of the Year. True story.
~~
Sometimes it snows in summer. Sometimes the best resume belongs to the worst applicant and sometimes the candidate you reject, ends up being your best employee.
4 Comments on “Rejected Candidates: What to tell them”
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Posted on 8. August 2008 at 05:58
I always wanted to help my rejected candidates (there for the grace of God, goes me), but I knew that if I did, I would put myself and my company in a vulnerable position. It is a shame that we can’t reach out and give guidance to the people who have taken the time and interest in working for us.
Posted on 8. August 2008 at 13:36
[...] I read an interesting post this morning on HRMToday called "Rejected Candidates: What to Tell Them" [...]
Posted on 8. August 2008 at 14:57
Hi Totally Consumed,
Excellent post! I think that the real lesson to take from the story is to be very careful of putting too much faith in a resume. They are simply too unstructured and rely too much on candidate writing skills (and their judgment of what should be included in a resume, and in what format).
By far the preferred option is to develop a structured application form, containing only questions that ask directly about job-related expertise. Every candidate answers the same questions, and results are easily compared.
I recently assessed a Marketing Manager who had difficulty getting a position in his industry because hiring managers wanted building materials experience and his resume seemed to focus on general management and consulting. After counseling him on how to write a more targeted resume, he was given a second look by potential employers. If the companies had instead used a structured application form, asking for such experience directly, they would not have overlooked a highly qualified individual. And they wouldn’t have to spend hours/days reading through resumes trying to find what they need.
In fact, research studies have clearly indicated that the information typically included in a resume relates very poorly to future job success (except when experience and education is linked with cognitive ability - in other words, when applicants are assessed on their experience, and their capability of learning and benefiting for the experience).
My apologizes for the long-winded response…employee selection and assessment is a passion of mine!
All the best,
-Chad
PS. I quite enjoyed your blog, after linking to it from HRMToday. Look forward to reading more in future.
Posted on 25. August 2008 at 04:57
[...] has a very interesting and amusing story about a rejected candidate that was eventually hired and became a star player. It’s a great anecdote and reminder of a [...]