To ask hiring managers. How do most people respond to job rejection emails/calls

[user1484926943]

When you've called someone to reject them for a job they went for. How do most people respond?

"ok, thanks for letting me know." and that's about it usually.

"Could I have some feedback please?"

They are obviously disappointed and lots ask for feedback, which I am happy to give.

I go through the interview questions and what our expectations were.

Ah. I wondered as I always say thank you very much for interviewing me. Explain that I enjoyed getting to learn more about the company. I make a note that I will work on the points made and thank them again saying I would love to work there again if a future position becomes available.

Maybe I'm going over board! Haha

There's no harm in leaving a good impression!

Maybe another opening might come up, and you might get a call back. Or maybe you were second choice and the first choice subsequently changes their mind.

I am in recruitment and 1 guy on e ranted at me that I had not done enough to promote him and that basically it was my fault he did not get the job. I tried to explain we get them an interview and they thenhave to convince the employer - no wonder this guy was unemployed! We would not approach him again

So most don't reply like me then? Yikes I thought everyone did.

The last job I was turned down for, I thanked them, and asked them to keep me in mind for future jobs.. 6 weeks later they called and offered me a similar role. I took it and was promoted within 6 months to a more senior role than I first applied for.

It definitely pays to be polite!

I'm much like you!

I got my current job because of the covering letter I included with my CV which ended 'I wish you luck with your search for a suitable applicant'! I don't think they had many that tried to present themselves correctly!

In my part of the world we have to be very careful concerning fair hiring practises and although an unsuccessful applicant will sometimes ask for feedback we really can't provide concrete feedback in case the applicant decides that we judged them unfairly or incorrectly and uses the feedback to support a legal claim that they were discriminated against (company policy) and that has actually happened before.

Last year I interviewed a young recent graduate who had a rather impressive resume for his relatively limited professional experience but through the interview process we realised that he was far less experienced and at a lower skill level than he had initially presented himself, so we passed on him. Several weeks later I get a phone call put through to me, it was the rejected applicant's father(!) who proceeded to try to persuade me (and got a little argumentative about it) that we hadn't assessed his son properly and that he should get another interview with a more senior level employee! Not surprisingly that didn't happen. I can guarantee that one way to make sure your name is permanently blacklisted from a potential employer is to have your parent ring up the hiring manager to tell them off!!

I had a rejection call and I thanked them for letting me know. Positive feedback was offered but another candidate had a bit more experience. I asked them to keep me in mind for any future vacancies as I had enjoyed meeting them and would love the opportunity to work for them if something suitable came up.

Three weeks later they called me to say the original successful candidate walked out after 2 hours and did I still want the job and could I start next week

Thanks for these replies everyone. 😀

I do a bit of hiring, but I don't usually see communication after because HR do the telling people bit. HR always offer that we'll do feedback and I then respond with something hopefully useful that I've agreed with the panel. Like a pp we have to be careful about how we do that but we can usually be useful.

We've even had a great new employee who's interviewed with us twice - wasn't quite on the ball with app and interview the first time but when they came back again after getting feedback, the person was much better able to demonstrate their strengths and has been great in the role.

What you're saying sounds fine - but don't be afraid to ask for feedback and then act on it! Not everyone will give it but many will.

I'm the same as you OP.

I am recruiting at the moment - out of the 10 people I rejected today, 5 just want to get off the phone, 3 asked for feedback and asked to be kept in mind in future (this always makes an impression and I do genuinely keep them in mind for the future) and 2 argued with me...... it is always about this same ratios i would say, and the arguers always go in the bin.

I had someone before christmas complain to the company owner about me for rejecting him..... apparently I was unprofessional to do so...... My boss laughed and said we had had a close call!

I send out a lot of rejection emails. Generally I get no response or some variation of "thank you for letting me know". We offer feedback for people we've interviewed and most take us up on that.
The best replies are along the lines of "thank you for letting me know, It was good to meet the panel and learn more about the company, I wish you all the best with the recruitment. I'd be grateful if you'd keep me in mind if a similar role arises in the future"