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As a job candidate, every rejection has the potential to be pretty devastating. With each application, interview and assessment, it can feel like every aspect of yourself is being assessed for quality. When that ‘We’re sorry to inform you…’ email comes, picking yourself up and trying again is a daunting prospect.
Of course, recruiters and HR can make this process much easier. It takes little time to pen a pleasant email explaining that the pool of applications was huge, and suggesting some advice for future applications, yet many organisations simply don’t bother.
For one candidate, a unique glimpse inside the thought process of a hiring HR manager not only did away with the concept of a pleasant rejection, but actively compounded the trauma of not getting the job.
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Today’s hiring teams struggle to find candidates with the specific skills and work experiences needed for not only today’s jobs, but also tomorrow’s challenges.
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But at the end of the day, hiring processes should be focused on one key point: are you really hiring the most capable candidates? The ones who will adapt to tomorrow’s challenges.
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The candidate, known as Alexander or by his TikTok handle of @noveltygay, took to the platform to share his grievance at being accidentally copied into a rather uncaring email chain amongst several staff at the recruiting company.
“Yeah breakups hurt and stuff but have y’all ever been CC’d on HR emails talking about why they don’t wanna hire you?” the candidate said in the message.
In a screenshot added to the video, the HR manager’s email can be seen to note: “That’s interesting, OK so let’s reject him”.
A follow up video from the candidate revealed that the subject being discussed in the chain was in-fact that Alex has allegedly not arrived for an interview previously, although he denies the claim, stating that the company never sent him an invite.
The now-viral video garnered a wealth of attention from viewers, many of whom voiced support for Alex. “So unprofessional on their end!” one person noted, while another added: “You lucked out. They sound like a huge red flag.”
Whilst there seems to be some confusion over Alex’s rejection, it’s clear that adding a candidate into a thread analysing and then criticising them is a major faux pas that HR should be extremely wary of.
Yes, this case is likely a rare occurrence of such a blunder, however, it serves as a warning to HR and recruiters that offering a positive and productive interview experience to candidates can be the difference between sourcing top talent and having a perpetually unfillable vacancy, and a bad reputation.
