Giving Bad News: What to Say to Unsuccessful Job Applicants

What do you say to an unsuccessful job applicant? In terms of brand awareness, reputation and just doing the right thing, it is prudent to give some feedback to unsuccessful candidates. However, at least anecdotally, many candidates never receive any feedback and just wait and wonder and then eventually just assume they missed out on the job. This person may share this experience with their friends and on the socials, doing you reputational damage.

Some people are very good at giving unsuccessful candidate the bad news; however, I think it is safe to assume that many people find it a real challenge.

My advice is to “rip the band-aid off” so to speak, and say:

“I have some news that might disappoint you”.

                                   OR

“I’m sorry to let you know that you’ve been unsuccessful”.

Don’t talk about anything else upfront or do the dreaded “sandwich” approach of a compliment, then the real purpose of the call, and then something positive. Just say, “Hi Chris, this is Chris from Fermion and I have some news that might disappoint you”.  

This puts the person’s mind at ease as they know where they stand, which then allows you to give them some feedback and the confidence to do it again in the future.  

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About the Author:

Christopher Apps is an Organisational Psychologist and the owner of Fermion. He stays updated on the latest psychology research and shares evidence-based insights. The focus of Fermion is "Psychometric Testing for Recruitment" and “Recruitment to Retention: How to Select Good Staff & Keep Them”. If you would like to learn how to select good staff and keep them, please feel free to contact us at Fermion.

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”

Eleanor Roosevelt.