March 7, 2025
Once you have selected the successful candidate and they have signed back their offer of employment, you will need to follow up with the other candidates to let them know they were unsuccessful.
Make sure your successful candidate has accepted the job offer before you inform the other candidates. There is a possibility that your first candidate may not accept the offer, in which case you may want to consider one of the other candidates you interviewed.
All unsuccessful candidates are potential customers or referral sources for your business. Be respectful, honest, courteous and sincere. You want them to leave with a positive impression of your business because there is a good possibility they will tell other people about you.
If the unsuccessful candidate is already employed with the company, you may want to have a separate discussion with them to discuss what they could do to acquire additional training or experience to better prepare them for similar job opportunities should they want to reapply in the future, and where appropriate involve their current manager to gain their support.
Always follow up with candidates you spoke to or interviewed, regardless of whether or not they moved to the final round of interviews. This helps build a relationship with the candidate and a possible advocate (word of mouth) for your employer brand. They may not have been suitable for the current position but they could be a great candidate for other future positions. For those candidates who did not reach the interview process, ensure they receive a response on the status of their application.
You want to let the candidate know that all candidates and their qualifications were reviewed relative to the requirements of the available position. You have made your hiring decision and decided to go with another candidate. Thank them for their interest in the position and your organization and wish them luck on their job search.
Thank you for taking the time to interview last week for the [job title] position. I enjoyed our conversation and hope we were able to provide more insight into the role and organization. We were fortunate to interview some very qualified candidates for this role. I wanted to let you know that, unfortunately, at this stage, we have decided to move forward with another candidate. Best of luck with your continued job search.
If appropriate, encourage candidates to keep in contact with you, and keep an eye on your company website so they can reapply should other employment opportunities arise in the future.
For top candidates who you are regretting after an in-depth interview, it may be difficult to follow a script. For these candidates, be prepared, as they may ask you questions as to why they did not get the job. Be sincere and honest. Do not discuss the other candidates but think about how you can provide constructive feedback on how the candidate could strengthen their application or experience. This conversation could be challenging, especially if the candidate was a great fit but lost out only to a marginally better fit. If this is the case, be sure to stress that it was a difficult decision to make.
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