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Hiring

Warm Rejection Email

Rejection that leaves the candidate as a future advocate. Specific, kind, fast.

Step 1

Get the skill

Pick one. Copy to paste straight away, or download warm-rejection-email.md to keep.

Step 2

Paste it into your AI

Hand-written feel beats template feel. The "what they did well" line is the difference.

Preview the skill· what gets copied
Write a rejection email to a candidate.

Candidate: {{NAME}}
Role: {{ROLE}}
Stage rejected at: {{SCREEN / 1st ROUND / FINAL}}
Why rejected (real reason, internal): {{REASON}}
What they did well: {{ONE TO TWO POINTS}}
Did they receive multiple rounds: {{YES / NO}}

Format:
1. Subject (their name + role, clean)
2. Open: thank them by name, refer to the specific role
3. The decision (clear, not vague)
4. The why (specific to the candidate, not "more experienced candidates")
5. What they did well (1 to 2 lines, sincere)
6. Encouragement (only if you would actually re-engage in future)
7. Sign-off (named recruiter or hiring manager)

Under 150 words. Send within 48 hours of decision. India English.

Works with: Claude · ChatGPT · Gemini · Any model

By Rishi Jain