Rejection is never easy for both the personnel agencies in Montreal and the candidate. But it must not always be painful, especially to the candidate, who will receive the bad news that their services will not be needed by the company.

Here are a few ways you can reject a candidate as painlessly as possible:

Communicate the decision as soon as possible

Once you have made your decision to reject a candidate, you should let them know as soon as possible. It is pointless to wait until the end of the recruitment process to inform the unsuccessful candidates about their fate. Some of them would miss the opportunity to make applications elsewhere hoping to secure the job, only to be disappointed weeks or months down the line.

Pick up the phone

If you have previously talked with the candidate over the phone, you should give them a call and inform them about the decision. Sometimes emails come across cold and impersonal, and this may not be very good for their feelings and overall image of the company after the interview. Be sure to thank them for their time and effort in the application, and wish them good luck in their search.

Be brief

In one succinct paragraph, let the candidate know why their application was declined. This is not just for the sake of being professional and making it easy on them when breaking the news, but it also shows that you care about them by highlighting potential areas they could improve on to increase their chances of getting hired at a future date.

Personalize the bad news

This may sound excessive, but you should show that your company has a soft side, and values its people, when breaking the news of their rejection. Of course, it is bad news and not what they had hoped for, and it won’t do any good to make a cold phone call or send a canned, stale rejection email. While communicating the decision to them, refer to them by their names, and touch on a few of the things you might have talked about during the interview, along with a few pointers, observations, and highlight some skills they may have but explain to them that they are not particularly useful for the position at the moment. If there is anything in particular you may have liked about them regarding their strengths or qualities, be sure to mention them. Treat these individuals just as you would want them to treat you if you were in their situation.