Candidate rejection email with ChatGPT: warm, short, safe

Most candidates remember how a company rejected them longer than they remember the interview. A good rejection email is short, specific, clear and sent quickly. ChatGPT writes one in about ten minutes, and the two things it needs from you are the stage and one genuine strength of the candidate. Your review focuses on wording, because a careless reason can turn a courtesy into a complaint.

Decide the stage and the relationship

Note the stage at which the candidate dropped out: after screening, after the first interview, after the final round or after a test task. The later the stage, the more personal the email should be; someone who spent a day on a test task deserves more than a line. Then decide whether you want to keep in touch. If a candidate was strong but another was stronger, say so and mean it. If not, leave that sentence out rather than making a promise you will not keep.

One specific thing

Write down one or two things you can honestly thank the candidate for: a thoughtful answer on a specific question, a well-prepared presentation, a useful question they asked about the team. This is what separates a rejection that reads like respect from one that reads like a form.

The prompt

Role: you are a recruiter who respects candidates' time. Context: vacancy: {{title}}. Stage at which the candidate dropped out: {{stage}}. What we liked: {{strength}}. We want to keep in touch: {{yes or no}}. Task: write a rejection of up to 100 words: thanks for something specific, a clear decision, and optionally an offer to stay in touch. Avoid wording about age, gender, health or marital status. Format: subject line and email text. Warm, polite, no long dashes.

Leave the candidate's name and contacts out of the prompt; add the name in your email client.

Check the wording

Read the draft for two things. First, clarity: the decision should be unmistakable in the first two sentences. Softening like "we have decided to explore other directions at this time" leaves some candidates unsure whether they are still in the process. Second, legal safety. Any hint at age ("we were looking for someone earlier in their career"), family situation, health or gender can become the basis of a complaint. Keep the reason to fit with the requirements of the vacancy, and keep it general.

Send it within three days

Speed is part of the message. A rejection within three days of the decision tells the candidate their time mattered. A rejection after three weeks, or none at all, tells them the opposite, and they tell others. Put rejections on your list the day the decision is made.

What to do

1. Identify the stage at which the candidate dropped out and whether you want to keep in touch.
2. Write one or two specific strengths you can thank them for.
3. Run the prompt with the stage, strength and your answer on keeping in touch.
4. Make the decision unmistakable in the first two sentences.
5. Remove any wording that could suggest discrimination by age, gender, health or marital status.
6. Add the candidate's name and send it within three days of the decision.

A good rejection

The candidate received it within three days, it thanks them for a specific contribution, and the wording is legally safe.

Plans

The free plan covers rejection emails. Plus at 20 USD per month adds memory and Projects, useful for keeping your tone consistent; Business at 25 USD per seat with annual billing keeps team data out of training by default. See ChatGPT pricing, the recruiter's version of this task and ChatGPT vs Claude.