thanks but no thanks

A part of the recruiting process is correctly setting expectations with your candidates.  As I mentioned, this is the candidates first encounter with you as a company so you want it to be professional, open, and respectful.  As a part of your communication during recruiting please don’t forget to thank candidates for applying but also, if you have spoken to them or followed up to their submission in any way, make sure you let them know when the process is over.  So,

how do I send the “thanks but no thanks” email?

Yup, you’ve interviewed a candidate and it’s not going to work out.  But don’t leave them hanging wondering if there is ever going to be a second date!  Send a quick note.  Something that looks like this:

Dear [candidate],

Thank you for applying for the position of [insert title] with [insert company name].  We have carefully considered your qualifications and experience.  At this time, we are choosing to consider other candidates who we feel more closely meet the position requirements.  However, we would like to keep your resume on file and consider you for future positions.

We repeat our appreciation for you taking the time to apply to [company name] and for the interest you have shown in our company.  We wish you good luck in your endeavors.
 
Kind regards,
 
The Human Resources Team.

I know it’s an obvious form letter but atleast you communicated the outcome without stringing them along.

I also mentioned the “thank you for applying” email.  For a small company I like to set up an auto-email response so that when any candidate applies they get the following message back:

We appreciate your interest in [insert company name]. Your resume has been forwarded to the appropriate manager internally and is currently being reviewed.  Should your background appear to be a suitable match for any of our current openings, we will contact you as soon as possible with an initial phone interview.  In the event that none of our openings are appropriate at this time, we will retain your resume in our active files and notify you when suitable opportunities occur. 
 
We sincerely appreciate your interest in [insert company name]!
 
Thank You,
 
The Human Resources Team.

Again, total cliche but atleast it is better than nothing and acknowledges a resume was received. 

Hmmmm, I think the next module is going to be on how to recruit so that I can string all these posts on prescreen questions, skills assessment, reference checks and general recruiting into one source for you!