How you reject a candidate: four templates, for four different stages
Echipa HR 365 · reviewed 2026-09-02 · 5 min read
A rejection is written in proportion to what the candidate invested. After a CV screen a short message sent quickly is enough. After a work sample of several hours, that same template message does more harm than silence, because it says explicitly that nobody looked.
Why it is worth the effort
The rejection is the last thing a candidate receives from you and the only one they tell people about. In a small market, where people in the same field know each other, the quality of your rejections becomes part of your employer reputation faster than any campaign. And a candidate rejected properly is one who applies again in a year — and in a year they might be exactly who you need.
| Stage | Deadline | Length | What it must contain |
|---|---|---|---|
| After the CV | within 5 working days | 3–4 lines | Confirmation of the decision, with no individual reason |
| After screening | within 3 days | 4–5 lines | A reason tied to the requirements of the post |
| After the interview | within 3 days | 6–8 lines | A concrete reason plus thanks for the time given |
| After a task or the final stage | within 2 days | 8–12 lines | Feedback on the work done plus a genuine opening for the future |
Template 1 — after the CV screen
Hello [name]. Thank you for applying for the [role] position. We have reviewed all the applications received and have decided to continue the process with other candidates for this post. We will keep your details on file for future positions, if you are happy for us to. We wish you well.
Template — rejection after the CV
What is deliberately missing: an individual reason. With hundreds of applications you cannot give a real one, and an invented one (“your profile does not match”) is an assessment of the person that you never made. The correct phrasing talks about your decision, not about them.
Template 2 — after screening
Hello [name]. Thank you for the conversation on [day]. After speaking, we have decided not to continue the process, because the post involves [the concrete requirement: shift work / immediate availability / experience with X], and from our conversation it does not match what you are looking for now. If your situation changes, do write to us any time. Thank you for your time.
Template — rejection after screening
Template 3 — after the interview
Hello [name]. Thank you for the [x] minutes yesterday and for the concrete examples you gave us. We have decided to make an offer to another candidate, who has direct experience in [the concrete area of the role] — that was the difference, not your general preparation. What stayed with us from the conversation was [something real, observed]. If a position opens in [the area where the candidate is strong], we would be glad to get in touch. Thank you again.
Template — rejection after the interview
Template 4 — after a task or the final stage
Hello [name]. Thank you for the work you sent and for the serious time you invested in it. We have chosen another candidate for this post. Concretely, here is what we saw in your submission: [two good things, named precisely] and [one thing we found missing, framed against the brief, not the person]. We kept your work only for this process and are deleting it now. If you would like a five-minute conversation about the feedback, I am happy to. Best of luck.
Template — rejection after a work sample
Do not offer the conversation unless you are willing to honour it. A candidate who writes back and gets no reply ends up worse off than if you had offered nothing.
What you never write
- Detailed comparisons with other candidates — “we found somebody with more experience” is acceptable, anything more specific is not.
- “We will keep you in our database” if you have no database you actually consult and no retention policy.
- Reasons touching age, family, health or beliefs — not even phrased as a compliment.
- Promises to get in touch by a particular date, unless a concrete post is planned.
- Silence. The rejection never sent is the most expensive message in the whole process and the only one the candidate certainly remembers.
How you make sure they get sent, not merely written
- Recruitment — ties sending the rejection to moving the candidate into the “rejected” stage — not as a separate task, which gets postponed
- Recruitment — personalises only the marked fields; the rest stays a template, or writing becomes too expensive and gets postponed
- Manager — gives the recruiter one sentence of observation at the end of the interview — that is what makes template 3 possible
One last thing about timing: rejections go out before the accepted offer, not after. The reason is practical — if the first candidate turns the offer down and you have kept the other two waiting without a word, you have already lost the week in which they were still available. You are communicating the decision not to continue, not the final outcome of the process.
Do I send a rejection to people who were never invited to interview?
Yes, with template 1. It is the cheapest message in the whole process and the only one most candidates receive. A company that replies to everybody stands out precisely by doing that.
Do I give feedback if somebody rejected on CV asks for it?
You can say which requirement of the post was not covered, if it is something objective. Do not invent an assessment you never made; “we did not get to a detailed review” is an honest and acceptable answer.
Email templates live in the platform and go out when the candidate is moved
The rejection is sent at the moment of the decision, with the fields already filled from the candidate’s file — so it stops living on the “tomorrow” list.
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