Is it ever acceptable to be rude and offensive when rejecting an unsuccessful candidate? One job hunter was shocked recently when he received an email which was rude, personal and offensive.
Here’s just a snippet of the email the unsuccessful job seeker received,
“You are not only the most inappropriate person for this job, but probably for any job. You will spend the next few years applying for, only to get rejected as soon as they meet you. Also for an old aesthetically challenged guy with no teeth, you have an unbelievable amount of confidence.”
It transpires that the Director who interviewed him had found him to be rude, obnoxious and arrogant in the interview. She had written the rejection email with no intention of sending it but purely to let off some steam about the candidate. She had also written a standard rejection email but initially sent the first one in error.
This story also serves to highlight another complication in the mine field that is the interview process. The candidate clearly thought the interview had gone relatively well and was interested enough to ask for feedback. The interviewer on the other hand was, to put in politely, unimpressed by the interviewee. It seems strange that their perceptions of the interview could be so dramatically different.
So what is the best way to share the bad news? The most important thing is to inform the candidate as soon as possible. Most people really want to know the outcome and will be waiting for news. After all they have given up their time to prepare for and attend the interview.
