Job Seekers and Recruiters- Question regarding rejection letters
December 6, 2009 by admin
Filed under Job Search
Bob asked:
For those candidates who are unsuitable for the position they applied for, it’s common courtesy to send a rejection letter. I’m not sure it’s the best practice to send a rejection letter for each of those jobs for which they applied and are not suitable.
For example:
A candidate with an MBA in Finance and who is currently a controller at a multi billion dollar company applied to 12 positions at my company yesterday. Three of them were in our Finance department for which the candidate was well suited. The other nine were positions for which the candidate was unsuitable. This means that conceivably, the candidate could receive nine rejection letters from me.
In this instance, the situation could be remedied when I call the candidate to discuss the positions for which they were well suited. I could explain that I’d reviewed their qualifications, and that they were suitable for three of the positions for which they posted, but not suited for the other nine. Issue resolved.
What about the person who applied for 12 positions, none of which they are well suited for? Do I send one rejection letter that states they were no suitable for “XYZ” position and leave them hanging for the status of the other 11? Do I send 12 rejection letters and give them rejection overkill?
I know there’s no real cookie cutter answer to this question, and I’m posing this dilemma for a number of reasons. I do understand the frustrations of not knowing what’s going on behind the scenes but frankly, how do you want to be told that you aren’t qualified for all 12 positions to which you applied?
Perhaps some of the responsibility needs to be placed upon the applicant? I’m sorry, but Controllers shouldn’t be applying for jobs as Computer Programmers. Be judicious and reasonable in what you apply for. It DOES have an impact on our view of you as a candidate.
I’d love to hear your collective thoughts.
Good Answers:
As a job seeker most of us try to find a position that will be a really good fit with our past experience and skill set. Sometimes companies may have multiple positions for which a candidate is qualified and I would hate to think that just because I applied to more than one position at the company, that I would be considered irresponsible or that it would have a negative impact.
That being said the gentleman that appled for 12 jobs most of which he was not remotely qualified for probably knows that he was not qualified for all 12. I think that sometimes people just want to get their resumes in the hands of someone at the company and blindly apply to multiple positions hoping that their resume will get looked at by someone in some department and if there is a fit somewhere that they will be contacted.
As far a rejection letters, many companies do not even acknowledge the receipt of a resume much less send out a letter. When applying on line you may get a confirmation of submission if you are lucky but it is just a standard format - we will review your resume and contact you in the event that we want to interview you. End of story.
I do believe 100% that if a candidate goes to an in person interview, whether it be one interview or multiple interviews they should be kept in the loop. If after the first interview you decide not to pursue the candidate give them the courtesy of a call and let them know. If you have had multiple interviews and decided to weed them out at some point call and let them know.
You never know when the time may come that the candidate may have someone to refer to you, whether they may be in a position someday to contract for your services to fill a position for a company in which they are now working.
Candidates can deal with you hiring another candidate. What is hard to deal with is when there is no communication after in person interviews. If you select someone else let the candidate know so that they can move on.
