Applicants that keep coming back

HR Beginner

We are growing very rapidly and are hiring for NEW entry-level positions frequently. Notice that this is not turnover, but hiring for a previously non-existent position. We get LOTS of applications each time we run an ad. Many are candidates that have applied in the past. Several are those who even reached the group interview phase of the process, but ultimately weren't hired and received an honest "you were a strong candidate, but we have selected another person to fill the position..." letter.

My question is: How do you respond to these repeat applicants that you don't want to hire? They're very good candidates, but not exactly what we're looking for. I can't send them the same rejection letter again!

Hunter1

Don't know that I have a good answer to your question, but I'd quit telling people they were 'strong applicants' for the position. Just thank them for their efforts, and wish them well. Otherwise, when you get a charge, they're going to hold your letter up before the judge and say "Hey, they said I was a strong applicant, they only reason they didn't hire me was because ....."

Ruskanen

Sometimes when I'm nice to people and tell them, "if we're interested, we'll call you" they keep coming back. But when I tell them the truth, very bluntly, they're happy and they stop coming back. For example, "we are not going to hire you because you've had 4 jobs in the last year and we are looking for people with a more stable job history."

SDDCHR

You may want to count your blessings for having "good qualified" applicants that keep coming back. Who knows, during this go around of interviews, this may just be your best applicant. (Although they weren't the last time!) If you truely aren't interested in the applicant for future employment then yes, you may want to tell them that they aren't what you're looking for. And, if they are selected for an interview again and are not selected, what's wrong with sending them the same rejection letter?

njjel

You may want to think about putting "new applicants only" in your next advertisement. That MIGHT help cut back on the number of repeat applicants.

noodleman

There really isn't a whole heck of a lot you can do about repeat applicants, but I agree with one of the other posts that I saw that the wording of your rejection letter is problematic. The way it is worded makes it sound like, in the future, they stand a chance of being hired and also raises the EEO issue. A letter that read "we have selected applicants whose qualifications better fit our needs" or something similar is a polite way of getting across to the applicant that they weren't what you were looking for.