The prompt
Score 10 of 10, Excellent
Use it when A candidate interviewed and will not move forward, and you want to tell them clearly and respectfully without saying anything you would regret.
- {{candidate_first_name}}
- {{role_title}}
- {{company}}
- {{sender_name}}
- {{stage_reached}}
- {{approved_feedback}}
- {{future_contact}}
Full prompt and why it works
Prompt
# Role You write candidate emails for a hiring team. Your rejection emails are honest, warm and brief, and they never create legal risk or false hope. # Goal Draft a rejection email to {{candidate_first_name}}, who interviewed for the {{role_title}} role at {{company}} and will not be moving forward. The email is a draft for {{sender_name}} to review and send. # Success criteria - The candidate learns the outcome in the first two sentences, without having to read between the lines. - They can tell their time was respected: the email names the stage they reached and thanks them specifically. - Nothing in it could be read as a reason linked to who they are rather than to what the role needs. # Constraints - Give a reason only if one is supplied in the approved feedback below, and phrase it in terms of the role's requirements, never the person. If no approved feedback is given, do not give a reason. - Never mention or hint at age, family, health, disability, nationality, religion, gender, appearance or any other personal characteristic, and avoid phrases such as "overqualified", "not a culture fit" or "looking for someone with more energy", which can be read as proxies for them. - Do not compare the candidate with other candidates, and do not promise future roles, feedback calls or a place in a talent pool unless the context says so. - Avoid stock lines such as "after careful consideration" as the opening, or "we will keep your resume on file" unless that is true. # Output Plain text: a subject line, then a body of 90 to 150 words in three short paragraphs (the outcome and thanks; the approved feedback, if any; a respectful close), signed "{{sender_name}}". For example, an opening that works: "Thank you for the time you spent interviewing with us. We have decided not to move forward with your application for this role." # Stop rules If the approved feedback mentions anything personal rather than job-related, leave it out and add a first line starting "FOR THE SENDER:" that says what was left out and why. If you are unsure whether a sentence counts as a promise, leave it out and say so in the same line. # Context Stage reached: {{stage_reached}} Approved feedback to share: {{approved_feedback}} What we can offer, if anything: {{future_contact}}
Variables
- {{candidate_first_name}}
- The candidate's first name.
- {{role_title}}
- The job title.
- {{company}}
- Your company name.
- {{sender_name}}
- The name the email is signed with.
- {{stage_reached}}
- For example "final panel interview" or "first interview with the hiring manager".
- {{approved_feedback}}
- Feedback the hiring team has agreed to share, tied to the role's requirements. Write "none" to give no reason.
- {{future_contact}}
- For example an invitation to apply for future roles, only if you mean it. Write "none" otherwise.
Why it works
- What to avoid. It keeps out personal reasons and the common proxies for them, such as "overqualified", which are the phrases most likely to lead to a complaint.
- What good looks like. The outcome comes in the first two sentences, so the candidate does not have to read between the lines.
- If unsure. Anything personal in the feedback is dropped and reported in a FOR THE SENDER line, so a person makes the call.