Skip to Content

The Secrets of How to Respond to a Rejection Email

By: Author Jeff Campbell

Posted on Last updated:

Categories Guest Posts

Rejection emails can get you down, especially when they come from your dream employer. With that said, we’ve all been through it.

And yes, it’s possible to respond to rejection emails in a way that doesn’t make you seem like a bitter person or put them off your chances of getting a second chance.

Let us see how to respond to a rejection email effectively and move on without affecting your professional image before the recruiter.

Stay Respectful

It’s important to show your respect to the recruiter regardless of your selection. Being a professional, you must know how to deal with rejections and failures.

“Thank you for the opportunity” is a good start.

Thanking the recruiter for allowing you to present yourself as worthy is a good start to responding. It will show your positive attitude and politeness towards the recruiter and organization.

Don’t get personal.

Try to be as professional as you can. You are responding to a recruiter that you can encounter again in future for some other opportunities. Hence, we recommend you make a good professional image rather than being personal.

Keep it brief.

Do not pull your response email too long; keep it short and sweet. Recruiters do not have much time to read long responses. Hence, if you want the recruiter to read your email, you need to keep it short and crisp.

Always ask for feedback.

You can ask for feedback on your interview performance. Recruiters like to give feedback on what could be better during the interview. This will also help you rectify the mistakes and perform better in the next opportunities.

Avoid generic phrases.

Do not be too generic while responding to your rejection letter. We recommend you just thank the recruiter for the opportunity and ask for his feedback on your performance. You can also request to be in touch for future endeavors. After that, a simple thank you, in the end, will be professional and effective.

Key Takeaways

Responding to a rejection letter can be tricky as you have to be professional, straightforward, kind and ask for feedback simultaneously.

Keeping this in mind, these are my basic, though not bulletproof rules for responding to rejection letters:

  1. Keep your response short and sweet
  2. Don’t go into unnecessary detail about the items in your portfolio that weren’t accepted
  3. Send a quick note of thanks for taking the time to review your materials
  4. Close with another polite “thank you”
  5. Don’t be afraid to end it with a bunch of happy faces
Jeff Campbell
Latest posts by Jeff Campbell (see all)